


Rend the Earth

by stardust_20



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Sequel to Tear Down the Sky
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-11
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 09:49:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 19
Words: 40,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3524699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stardust_20/pseuds/stardust_20
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when the people closest to you turn out to be strangers? Who do you trust?  Phil Coulson and Melinda May are trying desperately to put Shield back together after Hydra tore them apart, but now a new threat has appeared, one from within.</p><p>*multi chapter fic<br/>* Spoilers for all aired episodes</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I began writing this story last week, before yesterday's episode aired, but after watching it realized I was kind of on a parallel track with where the story is going. When I thought about it, I realized my previous oneshot, Tear Down the Sky, really is a precursor to this story. It isn't necessary to have read it in order to read this one since what happened in my story and what happened in the episode aren't strictly the same. This story will be somewhat along the same lines as the show but will vary with some details as well, particularly the backstory for May/Coulson/Garner that I'm working with. I'm sure it won't end up being what it is on the show, but bear with me as this part will be AU. :)
> 
> Spoilers: Spoilers for all aired episodes, including S2E12, Who You Really Are, and spoilers for the upcoming episode, One of Us. (If you've read the episode promo you're safe. I don't know any more than that myself.)  
> Timeline: Set a little after Who You Really Are, assuming the confrontation with Lady Sif and the Kree has already happened.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Coulson regarded her from across his desk, face devoid of all emotion. May knew it wasn’t because he wasn’t feeling any; quite the opposite. She could read him like a book, though he liked to think he was fooling her.

He was angry. Hurt.

She’d known he wouldn’t like it, that was why she hadn’t asked before going ahead.

“You asked Garner here,” he said flatly. “ _Here_.”

She understood what he didn’t need to say. “He knows how to keep a secret, Phil, and we need him. Skye needs him.”

He hated when she did that. Sometimes hated that she knew him well enough to know what buttons to push to get her way. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s been a month now. Simmons could use some help,” he admitted. He was worried, more worried than he let on, about Skye and the changes in her since the underground explosion. They hadn’t come up with a single answer to any of their questions and as each day passed, it unsettled everyone more and more.

Skye most of all.

“You’ll be in charge of him while he’s here. I’ve got enough on my plate; I don’t have time to babysit.”

May stood. “I never expected you to,” she said stiffly. “I’ll see that he stays out of trouble and make sure he knows never to breathe a word of what he sees here when he leaves. He was one of us once. He’ll understand.” She turned to leave and was halfway to the door when his voice stopped her.

“May.” She turned, head cocked questioningly. “Thank you.”

His eyes held more warmth now. It never took long for common sense and understanding to push aside the instant anger and frustration he sometimes let out, and for that alone, not even counting his many other good qualities, May knew Fury had chosen his replacement well.

Still, personal hurts were visible to her who knew him so well - in his face, his body language, and knew they were both thinking similar thoughts. She nodded and left quickly before her tongue loosened. This was neither the time nor the place for revisiting the past.

~ ~ ~ 

_Another ingredient to the already volatile pot._

Coulson couldn’t say he was pleased the eminent specialist was to be joining them, particularly now when everything was fraught with indecision, fear and strife, but May was right, they did need help finding out what Skye had become, and helping her and the rest of them live with that knowledge. Dr. Andrew Garner was the right man for the job, even if he was May’s ex-husband and the cause of pain in all three of their lives. _Not the cause,_ his subconscious whispered. _Just one part of a group that didn’t fit well together. Three is a crowd and pretending otherwise, particularly where feelings are concerned, is just stupid._

He shook his head and stood, leaving his office and heading nowhere in particular, just needing to walk to clear his head.

And heart.

~ ~ ~ 

“You’re quiet today.”

May’s ponytail bounced from side to side as she ran beside Skye. “Am I ever not?” she panted. Half a mile to go and five would be done. It pained her that Skye had barely even broken a sweat. It was as if she’d tapped into some new energy source down in that tunnel and it had left her resembling the energizer bunny.

Not cool.

“No, but usually you’re busy critiquing my form and telling me what I shouldn’t be doing. Absolute silence is almost unnerving.”

“Sorry. Got a lot on my mind.”

“I’d ask what but I’ve a feeling you wouldn’t tell me anyway.”

“Nope.” They ran in silence for a few more minutes. “Quarter of a mile left. Time to pick up the pace.” She lengthened her stride and pulled ahead but only for a moment until Skye found another gear and sprinted past her, finishing well before she crossed the line.

They walked the length of the track once to cool down. “Whatever energy you picked up down below, I could use some of it,” May said lightly. She knew Skye needed to talk about it but the girl grew prickly and agitated every time it was brought up. “I run a damn fine 5 mile time for a forty year old, but you’ve got me well beat and are barely breathing hard. It’s almost embarrassing.” She pressed a hand to her side and breathed in and out carefully, gingerly working at a stitch.

Skye smiled and everything in the room stayed calm. Progress. “I wish I could share it,” she admitted, stopping and turning to face May. “It feels overwhelming to be honest. Like a giant ball of energy inside me that’s trying to escape.” Her voice grew small. “I don’t know how to hold it in once it starts to boil over.”

May reached a hand out and touched her arm, rubbing it gently. “We’ll figure it out, okay? We just have to be patient and keep working on learning how to focus your feelings.”

“For how long? I feel like I’m about to explode sometimes and it scares me.”

“I know. I’ve called in a specialist to help Simmons figure out what happened to you.”

“You know a specialist in genetics and bio-engineering?” Skye was clearly impressed. “I didn’t know you had friends outside Shield.”

May began walking, nodding her head for the girl to follow. “He’s not a friend. He’s my ex-husband.”

~ ~ ~ 

May smirked as she thought back to Skye’s reaction to her revelation. She too, often wondered why she had an ex-husband. Why she’d ever gotten married in the first place was a mystery to her. She hadn’t been drunk, dared or pressured into it. Since the time she’d began dating in her late teens, she’d always preferred to keep things light, uncommitted. Why then had she married Andrew Garner?

She still had no answer to that question, four years after their divorce.

As she prepared to board the small jet to go and get him, her eyes locked with Coulson’s. They shared an unspoken moment, the air heavy with emotion. 

Skye stood with him as he watched the plane take off and deftly clear the hangar bay doors. “So, do you know this guy May’s going to pick up?” she asked, nonchalantly tucking her hands in her pockets.

“Dr. Garner? Yes.” He didn’t volunteer any more information. _Don’t ask, please don’t ask._

“Did you know him while May was married to him?”

Of course she’d ask. Skye always asked. She always had to know. He drew in a long, slow breath and copied her, tucking his own hands into his dress pants’ pockets. “Yes. The three of us worked together. He’s ex-Shield.”

“Ex? They let you go if you want to leave?”

He smiled. “We’re not the bad guys, remember? We don’t kill people for wanting to have real lives.”

“This isn’t a real life? Could’ve fooled me.”

His smile dimmed and a sad look clouded his eyes. “You didn’t have much of a life before you came to us so I suppose you wouldn’t know any different. Being a Shield agent isn’t an easy life.”

“So I’ve noticed.”

“It’s pretty time-consuming, which is why some choose to leave, to have a family they can spend time with, to not have to lie to those closest to them about what they’re doing and where they’re going. I wouldn’t want to see any of our people go but I’d understand if they wanted to. It’s a lifetime commitment and it doesn’t leave room for much else.”

“Is that why it didn’t work for May and her ex?”

“Something like that.” He shifted his weight back and forth. “Time to get back to work. Paperwork is calling.”

“Better you than me.” She grinned and watched him leave but the smile fell away as she thought about their conversation. Talking about leaving Shield hadn’t made him uncomfortable but his body language had completely changed when she’d brought up May and her ex husband. Something about the subject unsettled him.

What was it?

~ ~ ~ 

They made small talk on the hour-long flight from Washington to upstate New York where the Playground’s hidden entrance was. It wasn’t entirely comfortable, but it wasn’t as difficult as May had anticipated it would be either. 

As they began their descent, she contacted the base to arrange landing. “You do know the location of this base is classified and I have to ask - “

“I know,” Garner interrupted with a smile. “I haven’t been out of Shield that long. I still remember the protocols.”

She glanced over at him and felt a little jolt rock her insides. He was still just as handsome as when she’d married him. Maybe more so. It was a little unnerving that his presence still had an effect on her, both emotionally and physically. 

“Thank you for agreeing to come help us. I wasn’t sure you would … given the state we’re in right now.”

“Because Shield is considered a terrorist organization?” Their eyes met for a moment. “Yeah, I’ve been watching the news. I never believed it Mel. I know you and Coulson too well to ever believe you’re the bad guys. Someone’s spinning it awfully well though.”

“Hydra has people in the highest of places, so we’re discovering,” she murmured. “It’s difficult to know who to trust.”

“I’ll bet. At least Coulson still has you. I’ll bet he’s thankful for that.”

She looked over at him again but with needing to concentrate on landing couldn’t take enough time to read him; to tell if he was genuine or being underhandedly nasty. _Don’t even go there,_ she told herself sternly. _He’s a good man. Remember you’re the one who walked away._

Knowing her as well as he did, he made no further inquiries while she handled the landing and post-flight duties, instead waiting patiently for her to finish and invite him into the compound with her. It threw her off balance; he knew her, or had known her well enough to see when she was uncomfortable and that, at least, hadn’t changed in the four years they’d been apart.

She’d changed, after Bahrain, and he’d hardly recognized her. She’d been nothing but a shell, coming back from that; a shadow of her former self. The competent woman in front of him now, back in her signature black leather, back in the cockpit, back in the field, was the one he’d fallen in love with and married. It was good to see her well and whole again, even though he knew it had been Phil Coulson who’d brought her back from the brink when he himself couldn’t.

He could, and would, thank the man for that, even if seeing her like this was churning emotions he’d thought buried back up to the surface again. He’d never really gotten over Melinda May. There was no _getting over_ a woman like her, just moving past the hurt and putting it behind you.

The past had a nasty way of coming back and appearing before you though, just when you least expected it …

~ TBC ~


	2. Chapter 2

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

Coulson extended a hand. Garner took it. They shook warmly despite the palpable tension in the room.

“Thank you for coming,” Coulson said. “I really appreciate you taking time out of your busy life to come help us.”

“It’s no trouble at all. Besides, from the little Mel told me, this sounds like the kind of puzzle I’ll enjoy helping you solve.” Coulson cocked an judgmental eyebrow at her. “She didn’t say much,” he added, “just that it was otherwordly.”

“It’s definitely that. How much do you know about alien culture and biology?”

“About as much as anyone on this planet. Probably more than most as I’ve been studying what was left behind in the New York attack, and interviewing witnesses.” 

“Good. We’ll definitely need that expertise. All we ask is that you keep an open mind as you learn about the unique situation we’re dealing with here.”

“I’m a scientist. Being open-minded is what we’re all about.” Garner leaned forward, resting his elbows on the desk and touching his fingers together meditatively. “Tell me more.”

Coulson and May took turns telling Skye’s story, leaving out all references to Coulson’s miraculous healing and resurrection. Garner asked a few informed questions but otherwise remained silent throughout their narrative.

“Remarkable,” he said, a full minute after they’d stopped talking. “I’d like to meet her.”

“Shortly. Let’s get a room assigned and your things put away first.”

May stood. “I’ll take care of it and see if Skye is up to having a visitor.”

Garner waited until she’d gone, then he looked back at Coulson. “I want to thank you,” he began.

“For - “

“For what you did for Mel. After Bahrain.”

“Oh. That.” Coulson rarely looked self-conscious. He rarely felt self-conscious, but his face grew warm under Garner’s scrutiny.

“It hurt when she pushed me away. More than you can imagine, but seeing her now I know you were the one she needed to save her. She was slipping away from all of us and I had no idea how to reach her. I thought she would self-destruct. Seeing her now, normal and back to the way she used to be … “ He smiled grudgingly. “It makes me happy to know she pulled out of it and is okay.”

“I cared about her too. I only did what any friend would do. She was the one who had to decide she was ready to live again.”

“I’m glad she did. It’s good to see her back to normal.”

“Some things have changed, Garner. She’s not exactly the same person she was before, but she’s certainly every bit as good as agent. I don’t know what I would do without her, especially now.” The two men shared an understanding look and Coulson’s heart lightened. He’d been apprehensive; the last time the two had spoken there had been harsh words and hurt feelings. “We welcome your expertise in determining what physical changes Skye’s undergone, but we need your expertise as a psychologist to help her deal with those changes perhaps even more. She’s having a lot of trouble dealing with her new gift and none of us is trained in counselling to help her adjust.”

“Who has she been talking to since it happened?”

“She’s May’s student so the two of them have spent a lot of time together.”

“Heaven help the girl then. Melinda isn’t exactly gifted with the ability to deal with emotions.”

Coulson cocked his head. “You’d be surprised how far she’s come. She and Skye have grown very close over the last six months since they began training together.”

“Remarkable,” he repeated, digesting the information on a nod. “She really has changed then.” 

Coulson prickled, feeling the unspoken insult to his friend, whether intentional or not. “May has the capability for great love and loyalty to those she cares about, she just shares her emotions very sparingly and with very few.”

“That at least, hasn’t changed.”

~ ~ ~ 

May pushed the door open slowly. “Hey. You up for some company?”

“Sure. I don’t think I’ve ever been alone this long before. I’m beginning to talk to myself.”

May came into the room and hitched a hip on the end of the table. “I prefer talking to myself than to other people most of the time. Less arguing that way.”

“Yeah but you’re an introvert. You don’t even like people.”

“Most people,” she agreed. “There are one or two I tolerate with something approaching pleasure.” She gave a little smile.

“Your ex wouldn’t happen to be one of them, would he?”

The smile faded. “He used to be.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“You never want to talk about the interesting stuff.”

May’s eyes slitted. “Now isn’t the time.”

“Right.” Skye glanced up at the camera in the corner. “People might be watching. You wouldn’t want to give away your secrets.”

“I don’t have secrets. I have feelings and I prefer to keep them private. You’re in the mood to talk? That’s good because Dr. Garner is here and he’ll want to talk to you about what happened in the cavern and how you’re feeling about the changes that happened to you.”

“I thought he was a biologist.”

“He is, but he minored in psychology and believes finding solutions always involves a person’s state of mind. He’ll be wanting to probe yours.”

“Lucky me.” Skye grimaced.

May smirked. “You should consider yourself lucky. There are worse kinds of probing.”

~ ~ ~ 

“Good afternoon Skye.” Garner held out his hand towards her.

She looked at it, measuring, assessing, and then took it. His grip was firm, warm, and she could almost feel the compassion flowing out of him in it. “Dr Garner, I presume.”

“That’s right. They told you I was coming to help you.”

“They didn’t tell me much, but then Coulson and May don’t tend to be very forthcoming.”

_Truer words were never spoken._ “Perhaps you’ll be different. Tell me about yourself.”

“Don’t you want to know what’s wrong with me?” She was unsettled, feeling uncomfortable at his presence and though she knew her words came out sounding angry and belligerent, she couldn’t stop them.

“First I’d like to get to know you, Skye.”

“Well for starters Skye isn’t my real name.”

“It isn’t? I think it’s very pretty. Is it a nickname?”

“I chose it. I had no parents and I grew up in an orphanage. I didn’t like the name they used so I changed it once I was old enough.”

“What was that name?”

“Daisy.” She spat it out. “I hated being named after a stupid flower.” She huffed. “Turns out it wasn’t just the ladies at the orphanage making up a ‘pretty’ name, it’s my real name. My birth name.”

“And you found this out how?”

“My father.” She crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips. “Apparently he wasn’t dead after all and he’s a crazy sociopath, so don’t even ask.”

~ ~ ~ 

Coulson’s eyebrows raised and he glanced over at May. “She seems to be picking up more than just combat from you. I’ve never seen her be so difficult.”

May looked back at the screen, watching their interaction. “She’s scared. Probing into her life has raised her hackles and she’s fighting back.”

“As I said … “

She threw him a withering glance. 

“Okay, fine, it is unsettling for her, I’ll give you that. But I wish she’d cooperate so we can move forward.”

“Trying to force her will only cause her to dig in her heels and push back.”

“Hmm. Not unlike someone else I know.”

May put her hands on her hips. “You want me to go in there and try to help?”

“No.” He turned his gaze back to the monitor. “Give them some more time. Hopefully she’ll come around on her own.”

~ ~ ~ 

“I like asking questions.” Garner smiled. “You get to know things that way.”

“I like asking questions too, not answering them.”

“Go ahead then and have a turn. Whatever you want to ask me.”

Skye considered for a moment. She had a dozen questions she wanted answers to about just about everything. More. But the one thing she really wanted was to learn about May. Her SO, and friend, had opened up somewhat but still evaded most questions about herself and her past.

“Why did you and May get divorced?”

“Funny how you all call her May, as if it’s her first name. Usually people use an actual first name, or a title before a last name, as in Agent May.”

“Coulson sometimes calls her Melinda but to the rest of us she’s just May.” She frowned. “You’re evading the question.”

He smiled, feeling a sudden sympathy for May. _Having a protegee like this must be a trial for her._ “It’s an answer that involves a long story that I don’t want to get into now. The short of it is that we couldn’t get along. What each of us needed out of our relationship and what the other was willing to give just didn’t meet.”

“Do you still care about her?”

“Of course. She’s a very special woman. Surely you’ve come to know that yourself if you two have been working closely together.” He chuckled as if to himself. “We just don’t get along very well so we’re better when we stay apart.” He cleared his throat. “That’s two questions. My turn.”

~ ~ ~ 

May felt the flush creep up the back of her neck at Garner’s words. He’d given her more credit than she’d thought he would, blaming both of them equally for the divorce. She knew it had been her fault. Alone. He’d tried to be there for her and she’d pushed him away. 

Coulson nodded appreciatively. “He’s pretty smooth.”

“I never liked that about him.”

“No, you’re definitely made of rough edges. You prefer prickly to smooth. Not unlike a certain student who seems to be taking after you.”

“If you wanted Skye to learn to be pretty and polite and full of social graces you should have assigned Simmons to be her SO," she snapped, then sighed in resignation. “Of course that wouldn’t exactly fly now with what’s happened to their relationship.”

“I’m teasing, May. Skye is exactly where I think she needs to be. No one can train her better than you.”

Her gaze softened and she almost smiled. Almost. “Hopefully he won’t put her back up too much and she’ll open up and talk to him.”

“If not I’ll have words with her.”

“Words. That ought to strike fear into her heart.”

~ ~ ~ 

The conversation had progressed fairly well from that point on. Garner had talked to enough people over the course of his career to know Skye had finally relaxed and let down her defenses.

The outer ones, anyway.

He’d considered himself a fairly keen observer of people but it hadn’t been until he’d been married to Melinda May that he’d realized just how many defensive layers some people had, and how no matter how close you came, some defenses just weren’t breachable.

“Can you describe for me what happens when your gift gets triggered?”

“Gift?” she muttered. “More like a curse.”

“Perhaps.” He smiled gently at her. “I prefer to call it a gift. That has a more positive ring to it.”

She shrugged. 

“Can you tell me what happens around you when it starts?”

“The world begins to shake like an earthquake. Things rattle everywhere. Glass breaks.”

He digested that for a moment. “How does it make you feel?”

“Scared.”

He made a mental note to himself; this was where she’d begun to be completely honest with him. Her answer had popped out instantly without time for reflection or censoring.

“Scared for yourself? That what’s happening will physically hurt you?”

“No, I’m scared for them.” She waved her arm around, encompassing the rest of the plane. “When it starts I can’t stop it and I’m afraid I’ll hurt them. Or kill them,” she added in a choked up whisper.

“Is that why you’re locked up in here? Are they afraid of you?” He knew it was a nasty question but he needed to know.

“Some of them are.” Skye curled herself up, hugging her knees to her chest in what he knew was a typical defensive pose. She was afraid all right, but not of her power. 

She was afraid of losing her friends. Her family. 

“Are there any who aren’t afraid of what’s happening to you?”

“May isn’t afraid of anything. She’s been helping me try to get my feelings under control so I don’t trigger it. And Coulson stood between me and the aliens who wanted to kill me so I guess I can count him on my side.”

“They’re formidable allies, Skye. I’ve known both of them for a number of years. They’re both as stubborn as they come and if they’re in your corner now, they’ll be standing with you to the end, no matter what happens.”

“I hope so,” she said tearfully. “I feel like I’m losing everything.”

~ TBC ~


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, spoilers for all aired episodes. I wrote half this chapter before watching this week's episode, and half afterwards, so while some elements will remain the same as on the show, some will definitely be AU, and some will be similar but not exactly the same. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy my version of the events! Comments make my day so if you have a moment to stop in and say something, I'd love to hear from you. :)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

May took a small sip of her steaming tea. “So?”

“You’ve got a long road ahead of you.” Garner put his elbows on the bar and leaned in, taking the mug she handed him. He sniffed it. “You remembered.”

She shrugged. “I seldom forget things.” 

“Neither do I. Like you always drinking green tea instead of coffee like a civilized human being.”

She half-smiled at his teasing. “We never did have much in common, did we?”

“Opposites attract.” He lifted the mug to his lips and sipped, watching her intently.

“That they do.” She copied him. “But having nothing in common doesn’t make it easy to stay together.”

“As I recall there were a few things we enjoyed doing together and were pretty good at.”

May caught the mischevious glint in his eye and flushed a deep red.

Simmons appeared at the top of the steps and came towards them, stopping dead at the tension in the room. “I have the lab results ready for you … “ She cleared her throat awkwardly. “I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?”

Garner turned around to face her. “No, not at all. Agent Simmons, is it?”

“Yes, Dr. Garner.”

“Call me Andrew, please. It’s easier and more pleasant if we’re going to be working together.”

She smiled and held out a hand. “Gemma.”

He took it and returned the smile. “That is a beautiful and unusual name.”

“Oh, it’s not so unusual in England.”

“Is that where you’re from? Your accent is charming.”

“Originally, but my parents moved here when I was very young.”

“I see.” He turned back to May. “Do you need me for anything else right now?”

“No. It’s fine.” She toyed with the mug handle. 

“I’d like to get a look at those reports and see what sort of tests you’ve run before I talk to young Skye again.”

“Go ahead. You know where to find me if you need me.” May watched them leave, an uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach. She hadn’t anticipated he would flirt with her, nor what her response to it would be. She’d told herself it was over when she’d asked him for the divorce, and that it was better they be apart, but the pull she felt to him was undeniable, and a sign that while her head might have moved on and put their relationship in the past, her heart might not have gotten that memo.

~ ~ ~ 

Simmons left the lab, at Garner’s request, to give him some quiet time to digest the information she’d put together on Skye’s condition. She didn’t see Fitz behind her until she backed into him, closing the lab door in front of her.

“Hey. Watch it.”

“Oh Fitz!” she exclaimed, spinning around. “You startled me.”

“W … w … walking backwards is never a good idea. You can’t see what’s c … coming at you.”

“Very true. What are you working on?”

“May asked me to tweak the cloaking device for the Bus. I’ve got her modifications nearly ready. Have you seen her? I’d like to ask her to look at them before I g … go ahead.”

“She’s on the Bus, in the lounge.” She pointed. “I was just there with her and Dr. Garner. You know what was really weird? The two of them were talking and they seemed awfully close for people who are divorced and supposedly don’t get along.”

“So what? Maybe they do. Not all people who are divorced hate each other.”

“I didn’t hear what he said to her, but she flushed beet red, almost as if they were flirting with one another. Can you believe that? Agent May flirting?”

“I used to be able to believe six impossible things before breakfast. Since I joined Shield, that number has risen s … s … somewhat higher.”

“Still, May flirting - “ she shook her head. “ - it’s just not something I thought I’d ever see.”

“Everyone has someone who can break through their d … d … defenses, no matter how strong they are.”

“I suppose.” A knock on the glass door stopped her from protesting further. Garner motioned for her to come back in. “Sorry, gotta go.”

“Later,” Fitz mumbled, heading towards the stairs. He met May coming up from the hangar just as he reached the first step. “I was l … looking for you.”

“You found me. What’s up?”

“The cloaking shield modifications.”

“Done already? That’s impressive.”

The praise seemed to embarrass him. “I’m n … n … not quite d … d … done yet.”

“Do you want me to see what you’ve got so far?” she surmised, reading between the lines.

Relief swept over his face. “Yes. Please.”

She gestured for him to go first. “Lead on.”

~ ~ ~ 

“It’s going to take quite a bit more study to figure out what physically happened to Skye. Her DNA readings are incredible - from completely normal human DNA to something I’ve never seen before.”

“Are you saying she’s no longer human?” May asked, sneaking a look at Coulson.

“She is, but she’s also made of something completely alien now. The two sets of DNA have fused together so tightly it’s like one.”

Coulson frowned. “Can you separate them?”

“Can I? Maybe. Should I? Definitely not. That would mean ripping apart the very fabric of what she’s made of. I can only imagine the harm that would cause, not to mention pain to her, and as a doctor it’s something I will not do.”

“Don’t misunderstand me, Andrew, I don’t want you to, I just want to know what is and isn’t possible. All we really want is to try to understand what happened to her, what her new ability is all about, and how she can learn to control it and live with it. I don’t want to take anything away from her or change her in any way.”

“You do realize that may have negative consequences for her.”

May’s eyebrows drew together. “How so?”

“Gifteds, or those with abilities that are super-normal, have historically ended up being a danger to others and have to be locked away for their own and humanity’s protection. We might be able to figure out the physiology of the change, but that doesn’t mean she will ever be able to control it and if she can’t she’ll be a danger to you all.”

“Are you saying we should take her away and lock her up?” 

“If need be.”

“No.” May’s eyes blazed. “No. She stays here. If we send her away we’ll destroy her. We’re the closest thing to family she has. She needs us.”

“You’d keep a family member who was a killer with you, even when it would be safer for you to make them leave?”

“She’s not a killer.”

“She might turn out to be.”

“I can teach her - “

“What if you can’t?” Garner interrupted. “What if she does end up hurting you?”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

He looked at Coulson for confirmation.

“Agreed. No matter what happens, she stays with us.”

“Understood. I just wanted you to know what you’re dealing with here. This is no small can of worms you’ve opened.”

Coulson grimaced. “I think we’d figured that out already.”

“And we didn’t exactly choose to open it, it just happened,” May added.

“Life happens and then you figure out how to deal with it.” Coulson said, sharing an understanding glance with May.

“Okay, well, that’s enough probing at her for one day. I’ll want to talk with Skye again in the morning.”

“Have you eaten?” May asked. “I haven’t yet. I could fix us something.”

“Well I am hungry, but I’m not that desperate.” Garner smiled at May. “Join me in the kitchen and together we’ll whip something up. We’ve a lot to catch up on since we last saw one another.”

May quirked her head at Coulson. He shook his in response. “I ate earlier. Lots of work to do yet tonight.”

May was less than impressed. “Are you sure you don’t want to join us?” The thought of spending time alone with her ex made her nervous.

“I’m sure.” Coulson watched them leave, frowning. The last thing he wanted was to be a third wheel, listening to them reminisce about the good times they’d had together. He’d had enough trouble accepting it when it had happened, never realizing the depth of his feelings for May until she’d told him she’d eloped with Andrew Garner. He’d never really thought he wanted her for himself; their relationship had always been purely platonic, but something inside him had twisted painfully at the thought of her loving and being loved by another man. 

He’d managed to put those feelings away, fairly easily at it had turned out once she’d divorced him, and he didn’t want to revisit them now. Better to avoid thinking about it and treat Garner like the professional he was. This visit was just business.

~ ~ ~ 

“Do you have eggs? I make a pretty mean omelette.”

May opened the fridge. “I think so. I’m pretty sure we do. Maybe.”

“I gather you don’t do the food shopping.”

She threw a look over her shoulder. “Not if I can avoid it. Fitz likes to cook and Hunter and Mack like to eat so it’s usually the three of them who do it.”

He took the carton she held out. “I’m surprised you’d trust three men with that weighty responsibility. You’re lucky you don’t end up with nothing but soda, chips and Lucky Charms.”

“Look at you, stereotyping men as children.”

“I am one of them, I think that qualifies me to say what I wish about them.”

She laughed. “Thankfully Mack believes in eating healthy - most of the time anyway - so we do okay. Probably the one guilty pleasure we have in largest quantity here is beer. Hunter’s particularly fond of a pint and he does the beer store runs.”

“I could actually go for a cold one myself, if you have one to spare.”

“One.” She chuckled. “Surely you jest.”

She handed him a bottle and he twisted off the cap with a satisfying hiss, holding it to his lips and taking a long draught. “Mmm, that’s good stuff. It’s been a long time since I had a beer.”

“Your girlfriend not let you drink?”

He cracked the eggs into the bowl and began to whisk them. “You’re fishing, Melinda. I told you, if you want to know what’s in that picture frame, you’re going to have to tell me about that mistake of yours.”

“Forget it.” May grabbed a pepper and some onions and began chopping them. “Cheese?”

“It wouldn’t be an omelette without it.” Garner tipped the bowl, emptying the contents into the skillet and stirring. “That must have been one hell of a mistake.”

“You have no idea.”

“Worse than marrying me?”

“More deadly anyway.” May brought the chopped veggies to him and dropped them into the skillet. 

“Deadly? You’re still here.”

“Barely.” She felt his eyes on her and looked up to meet them. A tingle shot down her spine and she stepped back, suddenly realizing they were side by side, almost touching.

“I’m glad you’re okay then.” His eyes bored into her, holding her so she couldn’t look away. “I really was worried for you when I heard of Shield’s collapse.”

“I’m sorry for not returning your call. It’s not as if we were in the habit of talking though, not after the divorce.”

“No, that’s true. Not that we really talked much even while we were married.” He paused a moment. “I’ve talked to your mother pretty regularly over the last few years. “

“Why am I not surprised?” May smiled self consciously. “I think she likes you better than me.”

He cocked his head. “You’re not an easy person to get close to. Perhaps she just finds it hard to connect with you.”

“Her and everyone else.”

“Not everyone.” He took a step towards her and she backed up, finding herself trapped between him and the island. “I’ve missed you, Melinda.”

She wanted to tell him to back off. To leave things well enough where they were, but her tongue wouldn’t form the words. Her body remembered the feel of him, the warmth of his skin, the weight of him against her as he pleasured her, and her mind went blank as he touched her cheek and stroked it in a most intimate way.

For one terrifying moment, she was sure he was going to kiss her, then he pulled back. “I’d better not let the omelettes burn. I’m starving.”

**~ TBC ~**


	4. Chapter 4

He was _touching_ her. Not just touching her, touching her like she belonged to him. It hit Coulson like a punch in the gut. _She’s not yours buddy. Hands off._ Outrage bubbled to the surface and he was about to charge into the room and demand the man take his hands off her but a small voice in his head stopped him in his tracks. _She’s not stopping him. If she didn’t want him touching her, she’d surely let him know._ May wasn’t shy that way. She hated having her personal space violated. If she wanted Garner to stop, she’d make him stop, one way or another.

Coulson turned away and left as quickly as he’d come, berating himself for changing his mind and deciding to join them for a bite after all. Now he really did need to work late tonight to keep his mind off what they might be doing after dinner … 

~ ~ ~ 

“Morning.”

Coulson looked up. “Morning.” He licked his lips hungrily at the sight of the cinnamon bun she’d brought him. The heavenly smell mixed with his coffee had his mouth watering. “I wasn’t sure we’d be doing this today.”

“Why wouldn’t we?” May sat opposite him and sipped her tea. “We do breakfast every day we’re both here. I wouldn’t miss it.”

“I thought you might be having breakfast with our guest.”

“Andrew? I had one meal with him already. We’re good.” 

The knot in his gut unclenched slightly. “Oh? You’ve run out of things to talk about already?”

“We never did talk much.” She took a bite of her cinnamon bun. “I really shouldn’t eat these but they are so good.”

_You were married for half a year. What did you do if you didn’t talk?_ He forced his mind not to go there as he took a large gulp of scalding hot coffee and burned his tongue. 

“So about Skye.” May swallowed her last bite and washed it down with tea. “You’re putting her on the index.” It wasn’t a question.

“Yes. Much as we might not like to have to do it, she is different now and we need to keep a watch on her new ability.”

“She’s not going to like that.”

“I know. That can’t be helped. Once things settle down she’ll come to understand.”

“If things settle down. Do you honestly think it will anytime soon?” May shook her head. “It’s been one crisis after another for nearly a year. Hydra, Skye’s father, gifteds on the loose … what next?”

“Don’t even ask that question. Just don’t ask,” he warned. “I don’t honestly think we can handle much more. Oh, and there’s one other thing; Hunter never checked in yesterday and isn’t on base now.”

“You know he and Bobbi are sleeping together.”

“I suspected as much. You think that has something to do with it?”

She shrugged. “It’s a factor. He’s seemed to be on our side the last couple of months and we were both beginning to trust him with more responsibility around here. The only things that have changed in the last couple of weeks are Skye, and his renewed relationship with Bobbi. It’s pretty much a guarantee it’s one of those things that has him on the run.”

“I agree. I’ll talk to Bobbi, see if she knows anything.”

“I’ll check with Mack too.”

Coulson nodded, finished the last bite of breakfast. “That it for the morning briefing?”

“Hunter and Skye are the only things happening as of - “ she checked her watch “seven forty this morning. I’ve no doubt another crisis will rear it’s ugly head later though.”

He glared at her. “Bite your tongue.”

She smiled. “I’ll go see how Skye’s doing before _her_ morning meeting. I guarantee it’ll be less pleasant than mine has been.”

“And here I always thought Andrew was a nice guy.”

“He is. But he’s a relentless shrink. He won’t stop until he gets the answers he needs.”

~ ~ ~ 

“Good morning, Skye.”

“Good morning.” She smiled brightly, no signs of stress on her face.

Garner weighed that before speaking again. “You seem happy today.”

“We have cinnamon buns for breakfast. Cinnamon buns! We never have them. It must be a special occasion or something.”

“Well I’m happy to see you looking relaxed and well rested. I have some more questions for you.”

“I figured it wasn’t just a social call, though I have to confess you are a much better conversationalist than May.”

“Have you ever heard the Simon and Garfunkel song ‘I Am a Rock’? That’s Melinda.”

“She may be an island but she isn’t a rock. She does feel pain, she just doesn’t show it.”

“That’s very perceptive of you.”

“I have eyes, and May’s been teaching me how to read people. I’ve been using that skill on her.”

“I wonder if she knows that.”

“Probably. She doesn’t miss much.” Skye sat back on the bed and hugged her knees up to her chest.

“She tells me she’s been teaching you how to control your emotions and focus them.”

“She has. It’s awesome. It’s not easy but I think I’m getting the hang of it.”

He nodded. “I gather strong emotions like fear are what trigger your ability. Is the control and focus training helping you keep that under control too?”

“It is. I really think it’s working.”

“Show me.”

“Show you?”

“Can you make the shaking start and then stop it?” He raised an eyebrow.

Skye sat forward, her face set as she concentrated. The room began to shake.

“Good. Keep at it. Can you make it stronger?”

No sooner had he said the word when the shaking grew harder and faster. 

“Now stop it Skye. Make it stop.”

Smoothly, evenly, everything settled back down. “See? I can do it. I think I might be ready to be back out in the field.”

He smiled at her enthusiasm. “Not so fast. Tell me something: what were you thinking of when you triggered the shaking?”

“What do you mean?”

“Fear is what triggers it, Skye.” He leaned forward, tips of his fingers pressed together. “What are you afraid of?”

She seemed to shrink into herself and a scared look darkened her eyes. “I don’t know.”

“Yes you do. I know it’s hard, facing your fears, but it’s vitally important that you do. We all have to at some point in our lives.” His voice softened. “I’ve read your file. I know you have a lot of things to be insecure and afraid about - “

“You think? My mother was murdered, I was stolen from my father by Shield, grew up thinking my parents were dead, only to find my father isn’t dead, he’s a crazy psychopath hell-bent on revenge for what Shield has done to him … and then, as if that isn’t enough, there’s Ward.”

He honed in. “Who’s Ward?”

“Ward is - “ she blew out a breath. “Not even worth talking about.”

“Well he’s clearly on your mind. Are you talking about Grant Ward, the former Shield agent?”

“If you already know, why do I need to tell you?”

“I know who he is, not why he upsets you.”

“They didn’t tell you he was Hydra?” She was incredulous.

“Yes, but that still doesn’t explain why it upsets you.”

“He’s a traitor!” Skye threw up her arms. “He pretended to be one of us to gain our trust and then he betrayed us. Why wouldn’t that upset me?”

“Does it upset you personally?”

“Of course. He was my SO.” Garner raised an eyebrow, saying nothing, just waiting. “Before May took over. He was my SO when I started training to be part of Shield. He was my friend.” She sank back against the wall. “I trusted him. Believed in him.” She swallowed. “I cared for him.”

“And he betrayed _you_ personally.” His voice was gentle.

The room began to shake.

“It’s okay Skye. We don’t have to talk about him anymore. You can make it stop.”

“No, it’s not me. I’m not doing this.”

“Skye - “

“Really.” She jumped up. “It isn’t me.”

He looked around the room, feeling the vibrations running up his leg. “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

~ ~ ~ 

The cockpit door swung open. “What the hell is going on?”

May spared him a brief glance, returning her attention to the dash immediately. “Sorry I didn’t tell you we were taking off. We have to go now.”

“Melinda, you should have - “

“There wasn’t time,” she interrupted. “I had to act. Coulson needs backup now. Besides, you were in session and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“It wasn’t okay when you pulled stunts like this while we were married.” His voice was cold. “And it sure as hell isn’t okay now.”

“I don’t have time for this. Get out.”

“This isn’t over. We will talk about it later.”

May waited until the door closed behind him. “You’ll talk,” she muttered. I’ll listen. Just like the old days.”

~ ~ ~ 

May opened the door to lockup. Skye and Garner were both on their feet, waiting for her.

“What’s the plan?”

“The plan is you stay here.”

Skye gave her a look. “Coulson needs backup, right?”

May narrowed her eyes. “I can handle it.”

“I agree,” Garner seconded, voice still cold. “You shouldn’t be out in the field yet.”

“Who is he facing?”

May pressed her lips together. 

“It’s my father, isn’t it? That means you need me.”

“Skye - “

“I can get to him. You know I can. He’s relentless but he’s got a weak spot when it comes to me. We can use that to our advantage.”

May and Garner exchanged a glance. “She has a point,” she said slowly. “She could be the difference we need to win this fight.”

“I can’t give my approval for this.”

“Thankfully I don’t need it. Come on Skye. We’ll discuss the plan on the way.”

“Melinda.”

She met his pointed stare. “Stay here or come with us if you must. Your choice.”

“I’m not leaving my patient.”

“Good. We might need you.”

~ ~ ~ 

Garner watched in both horror and fear as the woman he used to love bargained with his patient’s life - gun to her head, was nearly shot, came close to being zapped from one plane of existence to another in some weird flash of light, and then took on a monster of a man who nearly bested her.

And remembered again why he’d left Shield.

He held Skye tightly against him while he watched the others take on the worst of the worst. Suddenly the ground beneath his feet began to shake. “It’s okay, Skye. Calm down. Keep it together.” He checked her line of sight, noticing that her eyes were flitting quickly between Coulson and May. Her heart beat so hard and fast he could feel it against his chest. “Breathe, Skye. Focus.”

“I’m trying!”

He could hear the terror in her voice. “Breathe in and out, nice and slow. Focus the way Melinda taught you.”

“I can’t. I can’t stop it!”

“Yes you can. Please, Skye, look at me.”

She turned to face him, focused on his face, and gradually the ground began to stop shaking. Her face paled and her eyes rolled back as she collapsed to the ground.

May, finishing off her opponent, sprinted towards them. “Skye!” She fell to her knees, gathering the girl to her chest.

Coulson joined them seconds later, breathing heavily. “Is she okay?”

“I don’t know.” May’s voice was slightly hysterical, even to her own ears, but she was powerless to stop it as a wave of intense emotion swept over her. “I don’t know.”

Garner felt for her pulse. “She’s alive. Get her back to the plane now. She needs treatment.”

~ ~ ~ 

“I can’t believe you let her go out in the field today.”

“What else was I supposed to do?”

They held their conversation in whispers so as not to wake Skye, still sleeping in her bunk across the room.

Garner’s eyebrow rose. “Order her to stay here, maybe? You do outrank her, don’t you?”

“You try stopping her when her mind is made up.” May crossed her arms over her chest.

“So she’s like you then?”

“More than I’d like her to be, but yes. She’s going to have to face this one way or another.”

“I’d prefer it be in the lab in a more controlled environment.”

“Ideally, yes, but she doesn’t live in a bubble. None of us do. When the fight comes to us we don’t have a choice. If fear and other strong emotions are what trigger this ability, they’re just as likely to happen anywhere, anytime, as in the field. Even when she’s dreaming it could happen. She has to face it, Andrew, and learn when it starts, what it feels like and how to control it.”

Simmons, who’d entered with Coulson during May’s last few sentences, frowned. “I think she’s already getting a handle on controlling it, the problem is instead of turning it off she’s turning it inwards. She has hundreds of tiny fractures from her clavicle down to her fingertips where she turned the power inwards in order to stop it, and broke capillaries, tore muscle fibers, and broke bones in numerous places.”

“What are you saying?” Coulson asked.

Simmons met all of their eyes in turn. “I’m saying if she doesn’t learn how to control it properly, or if we can’t figure out how to rid her of it, she may well kill herself in an attempt not to hurt others with it. She’s very lucky she survived this ordeal. We can’t let her use her powers again or it might kill her.”

~ TBC ~


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is like last night's episode, and not. Little bit similar, little bit different. I hope you enjoy my take on it. :)
> 
> As always, spoilers for everything that's aired, including last night's episode, Love in the Time of Hydra.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“We still need to have that talk.”

May turned her back, pulling two glasses from the cupboard, then a bottle that she held out in a wordless question. “I already know what you’re going to say. Spare me the lecture.” She handed him one of the glasses once she’d finished pouring. “We’re not married anymore and I no longer answer to you.”

“You never did.” He took a large sip and slammed the glass down. “You never talked to me when we were married. You never told me what you were doing.”

“It was classified. You were Shield yourself; you knew how we worked.”

“Yeah I knew. I just never knew you’d be more open and honest with your team than with your husband.”

“I never lied to you, Andrew.”

“No, but you never told me the whole truth either. Just like today, you went ahead and did whatever you wanted without consulting me.”

She looked up at him, eyes snapping. “Do we really need to go through all of this again? We have bigger things to worry about right now.”

“Perhaps. But I know you can’t move forwards unless you’ve come to terms with the past. Maybe you’ve figured that out by now.”

“Don’t,” she warned. “Don’t you dare. You’re not here to psychoanalyze me. You tried that before and it didn’t work, remember?”

“That’s because you wouldn’t let me in. You never let me in.” He took a step closer to her. “Do you know how painful that was for me? I wanted to help you, to be there for you and you threw up those goddamned walls around yourself and wouldn’t let me in when you needed me most.”

He paused and as she had no idea how to respond, she said nothing.

“I loved you, Melinda.” His voice was soft now. “We may not have had a formal wedding ceremony but in my mind I made those vows to take you for better or worse and to take care of you no matter what came our way.” He took one more step, closing the space between them. “God help me, even knowing how bad you are for me there’s a part of me that’s never stopped loving you and wanting you back, even after everything that happened between us.”

“Andrew - “

“I know, don’t say it. We’ve both moved on and it’s better that way. We weren’t happy together.”

“No we weren’t.” She blinked and dropped her gaze to the ground. “I’m sorry for that. I know it was my fault. I just couldn’t be ... what you needed.”

He lifted her chin with a fingertip so they were eye to eye. “Are you happy now?”

May shrugged. “As happy as I can be, I suppose. Shield is my home, my family. This is where I belong.”

“Is it Coulson? Is that why you’re here?”

Her heart began to race and she deliberately slowed it. “Yes. He’s the one who asked me to come back into the field.”

“And you couldn’t say no to him.”

She took a deep breath. “You know we’re old friends. He asked for a favour. He wouldn’t refuse if I were the one asking.”

“You two really have something special, don’t you?”

“It’s called friendship, Andrew. Phil is one of the only real friends I have.”

“I used to think it was more than that.”

May shook her head. “It wasn’t. Never has been.”

He smiled. “Never will be?” he teased.

She felt the warmth creeping up the back of her neck. No, she and Coulson weren’t anything more than friends but of late she’d felt a subtle shift in their relationship and wasn’t quite sure what it meant. Given the crises facing them, who knew if they’d ever have down time to figure it out? “I wouldn’t say that. I’ve seen enough in the last couple of years to know never say never. Anything truly is possible.” She sighed. “But for now we’re just two old friends trying to hold our weakening team together, help Skye through her identity crisis, and prove to the world that we aren’t the bad guys.”

He stared into her eyes quietly for a moment. “You are so beautiful, Melinda. You were always beautiful when you were smiling but I think you’re even more beautiful when you’re sad. There’s just something in your eyes - “

Before she could even begin to think of a reply, he leaned in and placed his lips over hers. Sparks arced between them, tingling up and down her spine and almost before she was aware of it, their arms were around one another, her hands clasped together behind his neck as his wandered up under her shirt, trailing a path of heat across her lower back.

She recoiled suddenly, hands unclasping and sliding down his chest to put some distance between them. “Andrew, I don’t know if we should be doing this.”

“No? You can’t deny you want it. There’s still something there. Tell me you don’t feel it too.”

Words were never May’s strong suit and in the heat of the moment she knew that anything that came out of her mouth was likely to be the wrong thing. “I have to go,” she said, fleeing the room as quickly as she could. 

~ ~ ~ 

_Figures._ The one place May knew she could go to be alone with her thoughts was already taken. She almost stopped and traced her steps back down the ladder but the shadow sitting in her spot looked too familiar. “Skye?”

The girl turned her head.

“What are you doing here?” May climbed the remaining steps and carefully navigated the catwalk above the hangar, sitting beside Skye and dangling her feet over the edge, arms draped over the guardrail.

“This is where you come to be alone, isn’t it?”

May nodded. “People don’t bother me when I’m up here.”

Skye moved. ”I can go.”

“No, stay.” She eyed the casts on the girl’s arms and winced internally. “You’re not bothering me.”

“You came up here to be alone.”

“So did you. Maybe being together is better.”

Skye gave her an appraising look. “Must be pretty bad if you want me here to distract you from whatever it is you came up to get away from.”

May shrugged. “Some things are never easy.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes.

“Nothing is ever going to be easy again, is it?” Skye asked quietly.

_How do I answer that?_ “No,” she replied honestly. “No it isn’t. Especially for you.” She nodded at the girl’s bulbous arms. “Does it hurt much?”

“Not really. These casts Simmons made are holding my arms still and she has some wicked good painkillers she’s got me on.” She grinned half-heartedly.

“Good. I suspect you’re in enough pain otherwise.”

Their eyes met and held.

“You know better than any of them what it feels like, don’t you? To have all this … stuff inside. How do you deal with it? I feel like I’m drowning.” Skye looked away. “Like I’m never going to be the same again.”

“You’re not,” May said gently. “You’re different now. You’ll have to learn to accept that and everything that goes along with it.”

“How can I when even my closest friends are afraid of me? They look at me and I see fear and pity in their eyes.”

“I’m not afraid of you.”

Skye turned to face her and there were tears swimming in her big brown eyes. “How can you not be? You’ve seen what I can do now, the destruction I can cause with just a thought. _I’m_ afraid of me.”

“Because I know you Skye. This new power you’ve acquired is awe-inspiring and terrifying, there’s no doubt about that. But I know in your heart you’re a good person and whatever happens you won’t use this gift to hurt others. That’s not your way.”

“I don’t mean to hurt people but I do.” One tear spilled down her cheek. “I caused that earthquake down in the cavern in Puerto Rico. I killed Tripp. How can you not be afraid of me?”

“You know what I am afraid of?” May swallowed hard. “I’m afraid you’ll listen to the people who say gifteds and those with enhanced abilities are scary, and that you’ll come to believe you don’t belong here. You do. This is a time of adjustment for you - for all of us, but you’re still one of us, Skye. You always will be. We … “ She couldn’t choke the word out. “We, some of us, care for you a great deal.”

Out of the corner of her eye May saw Coulson enter the hangar bay, and she picked up enough of his conversation with one of the techs to know he was looking for her. “Looks like I have to go now.” She faced Skye. “Are you going to be okay?”

“Sure. Of course.” Skye attempted a smile that May knew wasn’t real but she also knew what it was like to have strong emotions that couldn’t be shared. Sometimes it was important to keep those feelings hidden and pretend everything was okay.

Sometimes it was the only way of coping.

~ ~ ~ 

May closed the door behind her as they entered Coulson’s office on the Bus.

“Andrew’s recommending Skye be removed from Shield effective immediately.” He launched in without preamble.

“I agree with his assessment.”

“Frankly, I’m surprised.” He hitched a hip on the corner of his desk.

“What, that I can agree with my ex?”

“You’re the one who took her out in the field.”

“I had no choice. You needed backup. It was a judgement call and I made it. But I don’t think she’s ready to be out there right now.”

“To take her away from us though … ?” He left the thought unsaid.

“Just for a while, Phil. ‘Til she learns how to control her ability. It’s dangerous for all of us to have her here, and she’ll be the first to berate herself if she hurt anybody else. I don’t want her to have to live with that guilt. Besides, with what’s going on around here - our team divided on how to treat her, and God knows what’s going on with Hunter and Mack right now … this place is a powder keg.”

“You know how much it’ll hurt her to be told she has to leave.”

May’s eyes dropped. “I know. And you know I’d stay with her in isolation if I could.” She looked up and met his eyes. “But with all that’s going on, you need me here.”

“I’ll think about it and let you know what I decide.”

~ ~ ~ 

“Where are we going?”

“We’ll be there soon.”

Skye bit her lip and looked away from Coulson, out the window opposite her. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on or do I have to guess?”

“We have to take you off of active duty.” He turned to face her; she did the same. “You need some time to readjust to your new situation, and given how volatile things are back at the base, we thought it would be best for you to have some time away.”

“You’re locking me up.”

“No.” He shook his head. “I would never do that to you.”

“Yeah, right.” Her gaze dropped.

“Skye, look at me.” Reluctantly she met his eyes. “Have I ever lied to you? I promise I will not lock you up. Ever. I just want you to be someplace safe, someplace you can test out your powers and figure out how to use them safely. As soon as you do, you’ll be back on the team. I swear it. And you won’t be alone - there’s direct communication to the base if you need us, and May will come by every 48 hours to check on you.”

“But otherwise I’ll be alone?”

“Alone with some gadgets to try out.”

She cocked an eyebrow inquiringly. 

“These.” He pulled a pair of cuffs out of the suitcase he’d brought with him. “Simmons made these for you. They’ll help soak up some of the power so you won’t hurt yourself when you try to use it.”

“Simmons made them for me?” She seemed incredulous.

“I asked her to,” he confessed. “I don’t want you hurting yourself again. I care about you, Skye. More than you know.”

Tears swam in her eyes. “How long do I have to stay here?”

“Not long, I promise.” The backs of his eyes began to prickle with sympathetic tears. He reached over as far as the harness would allow and pulled her into his arms. “You’re still a part of our team,” he whispered, “our family. Never forget that.”

~ TBC ~


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for all aired episodes, including the preview for next week's episode One Door Closes. I have also read the promo information for the next few episodes, Afterlife and Melinda, so possibly spoilers for those as well. I've a pretty good idea that where I'm going with this story and where the actual show is going will diverge pretty soon, but hopefully they'll stay somewhat similar and that any AU parts will be just as believable and enjoyable as the show itself.
> 
> Enjoy!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

May was glad Coulson was back. Not that she usually minded being left in charge, but something was going on and it was always easier dealing with surprises when he was by her side. Mack’s story didn’t add up and it left a prickly feeling of dread behind, one she just couldn’t shake. 

“How’s Skye?” she asked immediately upon entering his office.

“Unhappy. Scared. A little rattled I think.”

“I’ll go see her as soon as I’m able to get away.” She studied him. “Phil, is something wrong?”

He shook his head with a perplexed look on his face, half shrugging. “It’s just … earlier, with Skye … have you ever had the feeling you’ve mishandled a situation?”

A sad look crossed her face. “Yeah, when I left Andrew.”

The revelation sat between them, heavy, for a moment, then he steered the conversation elsewhere. “Did you believe Mack’s story?”

She shook her head decisively. “Nope.”

“Me neither. I think it’s time we figured out what’s going on with him, Hunter and Bobbi. She’s been acting odd lately too.”

“As if we didn’t have enough to deal with.”

“Throw it on the heap.”

“Do you suppose we’ll ever make inroads on that pile?”

“Don’t hold your breath.” Coulson sighed. “So, I don’t like to bring this up, but given what you just said about Andrew and the rumours I’m hearing … “

“Rumours?”

“I don’t generally like to believe rumours, especially not when they’re about you - “

“ ‘Cause there are plenty,” she murmured.

“ - but are you and Andrew … you know?”

She kept an even face. “We had a moment last night. That’s all. There’s nothing going on, despite what people might think.”

“He’s off the base now?”

“Yes. No reason for him to stay once Skye was gone. I imagine he’ll want to see her when she’s back, and talk to Simmons again about her test results, but for now there’s nothing for him to do here.”

“Good.”

“Good,” she repeated, eyeing him thoughtfully. “It’s like you don’t want him here. Like you don’t want us being together again.”

“May … “ He took in a breath and exhaled before continuing. “That’s another huge can of worms I’m not ready to open. I just don’t want you emotionally distracted right now. I need you focused and ready.” His face gentled as he saw the anger she was trying to hide. “You and Skye are the only people I trust completely and she’s not available. I need you, May. More now than ever before.”

Something inside her melted. “You know I’ll be here. Whatever comes, I’ll be standing beside you. In front of you, if need be.”

“You will not sacrifice yourself to save me, do you understand? That is not an option.”

“You died once,” she said softly. “I won’t let it happen again, not while I’m here to protect you.”

“May - “

She held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t say it. Let’s just go find out what’s going on so we can deal with it already.”

~ ~ ~ 

On the way back down to the hangar, they met Mack in the hallway. “Have you seen Bobbi?” Coulson asked tersely.

“Uh, no. I think she might be out looking for Hunter.”

May and Coulson exchanged a glance. He nodded almost imperceptibly but she knew what it meant. He remained with Mack while she continued on, body tensing as she walked, mind readying for the fight ahead.

“Bobbi,” she called out, catching sight of the blonde curls bobbing between the vehicles on the hangar floor.

The two women advanced towards each other. 

“Tell me what’s going on, right now.”

Bobbi didn’t answer until they were almost within striking distance of one another. “I’m sorry, May. I liked you. I really did.” She leapt forward, sticks flailing.

May was ready for her and dodged them ably. She counted herself fortunate that she’d watched Bobbi in action, as the sticks were another level of difficulty beyond regular hand-to-hand and she needed that advantage to keep up with her foe. She’d watched and she’d mimicked, practicing how she would defend against them should the occasion present itself.

People considered her paranoid. May considered herself ‘being prepared’. She knew people thought of her as isolated, that it was next to impossible to gain her trust. Trust was not a commodity that came easily to May and this was yet more proof of why. There were few people she trusted to have her back without question; just as few she trusted not to turn on her if the right incentive came along.

She took Bobbi down with her in an unusual but pre-calculated move, managing to wrest one of the sticks out of her hand and giving her a good whack to the head to knock her out. 

May stood, stretched the aches out and leaned down, hefting Bobbi’s body fireman-style over her shoulder. She paused only long enough at the supply area to find rope to tie up her assailants arms and legs in case the hit to the head wore off and she came to, then hurried back the way she’d come to make sure Coulson was okay. 

Whatever it was that had Bobbi on the attack, she felt certain Mack was in on it as well, and leaving Phil alone and undefended against it made her nervous.

~ ~ ~ 

Mack, having gotten the signal in his ear to go ahead, pulled out a gun and pointed it at Coulson. “I’m sorry man, you seem like a nice enough guy. Don’t try anything and I won’t have to hurt you.”

Before he’d finished speaking, Coulson had pulled his own weapon out from where he’d stashed it in his belt behind his suit jacket, and had it pointed at Mack. “You want to tell me what the hell is going on?”

“I don’t take orders from you.”

“Who do you take orders from?” Coulson snapped, eyes flashing angrily. “Hydra?”

Mack spat into the corner. “Please. Don’t insult me.”

“Who are you working for?”

“The real Shield.”

“The real … “ Coulson stopped and shook his head. “The real Shield. You think we’re just pretending here? That this is all a game? What do you mean ‘the real Shield’?”

“You’re nothing but a rogue splinter group. A danger to the real Shield.”

“Who is this ‘real Shield’ you speak of, and why don’t they just call to talk to me if there’s a problem?”

A new voice spoke up. “Because they don’t think you have the right to be in charge and they want to take you down.”

Both men’s eyes swivelled as Hunter joined them, gun drawn but not pointed anywhere specific. He met both of their eyes in turn and slowly moved so the muzzle of his weapon pointed at Mack’s heart.

“Drop it Mack.”

“Hunter please.”

“Don’t you’ Hunter please’ me.”

“You’re a friend. Remember whose side you’re on.” 

“Side? I’m not on anyone’s side, Mack. I stand with my friends, of which you used to be one.”

“Used to be?”

Coulson watched with interest as Hunter took several steps forward, keeping his gun trained on Mack. “Friends don’t lie and keep secrets from one another. Friends don’t kidnap one another and hold them prisoner for days. And friends certainly don’t take friends to the enemy and leave them there to be locked up.”

“Gonzales isn’t the enemy.”

“If he’s staging a coup to take down Coulson, then yes, he is the enemy, Mack. And so are you. Put down the gun please. I don’t want to have to kill you.”

“I’ll do it.”

In the heat of the moment, none of them had noticed May behind them. She’d put Bobbi down on the ground and was in fighting stance.

Hunter noticed the slack woman leaning on the wall a few feet away. “Bobbi?” he said faintly.

“She’s just unconscious. She came at me and I had no choice.” May turned her attention to Mack. “Drop the gun, Mack. You’re outnumbered and you can’t win this fight.” She walked to stand between him and Coulson.

He shrugged and put the gun down on the floor, kicking it towards them. “You may have won this battle but there’s a war coming Agent May, and not even The Cavalry can stop it.”

~ ~ ~ 

“Gonzales is behind this.” May’s voice was grim. 

Coulson looked pale. “That is not good. Not good at all.” They shared a knowing look. They were both well aware of his reputation as a guy who was tough on gifteds and others who were ‘unusual’. He played things by the book, didn’t believe in anything he couldn’t see and quantify, and tended to shoot first and not bother asking questions later.

“What do we do about Skye?” May asked.

Coulson pushed a button on his desk to bring up a large map. “Hopefully she’ll be safe there. The cabin was one of Fury’s secret hideouts; I don’t know if anyone else knows its whereabouts.”

Even as he spoke, radar showed multiple aerial vehicles converging both on their present location and the forested area the cabin was nestled in. His heart sank as the warning klaxon began to wail.

“Dammit! Get her out of there,” he hissed.

“I’m not leaving you.” May grabbed the phone and punched in Skye’s number.

“Hey there.”

“Skye, it’s me. There’s no time to explain. You have to leave the cabin now.”

“What’s going on? Is that the perimeter breach alert?”

“Yes. Civil war has broken out within Shield and they’re coming for you.” May’s voice rose. “Get out of there now Skye. Run!”

“But how … “

“Use whatever you can, whatever you have, don’t worry about the consequences, just survive. We’re going dark - I’ll find you when this is over. I promise. Now go!”

She slammed the phone down and neatly caught the gun Coulson tossed at her from his secret stash. “Is anyone with us?” May asked as she followed him downstairs.

“Maybe Hunter. We can assume no one else at this point.”

“Understood.”

He stopped and turned to face her. “May - “

“I know.”

He reached a hand out and touched her cheek gently, tentatively. “Thank you.”

~ ~ ~ 

Skye put down the phone after May hung up on her, feeling a sick fear blossom and begin to take root in the pit of her stomach. She struggled to stay calm and keep control as she took thirty seconds to toss food and water into a backpack before dashing out of the cabin she’d called home for less than twenty-four hours.

The sound of helicopters cut through the quiet night and lights pierced the dark sky above her. She ran for her life, staying under cover of the large firs as they hunted her. What did May mean by ‘civil war within Shield’? Who was fighting whom and why? How did they know about the Playground and this hideout? Why were they after her?

Because it was one of their own. Realization came to her slowly. One of their own people was a traitor. Someone who no longer believed in Coulson and his mandate. _They’re coming for you._ Someone who was afraid of her and what she’d become. Someone who wanted to lock her up. Someone who’d spent time within Hydra’s ranks, learning their ways and perhaps being brainwashed herself.

Simmons. 

Skye sank to the ground, breathlessly, fighting tears. People she’d trusted, her friends - her family - had betrayed her. Even May and Coulson; reason told her they had no choice but to stay and defend the base, but in her heart she wished one of them would have come for her. They were leaving her on her own, no defenses, no backup, just when she needed them most. 

The tears began to fall but she brushed them away as the sound of the helicopters drew nearer and she stood and began running again. 

When she’d run until she could run no more, she crouched down in a small copse, hiding behind the thick brush and struggling to fill her overtaxed lungs with air. She pulled a piece of paper from her back pocket. Garner had given her his number ‘in case she felt the need to talk’ once their session was over. She’d assumed she wouldn’t need it - who enjoyed talking to a shrink, even one who did know May better than anyone and could reveal her secrets? She’d stuck the card in her pocket politely when he’d handed it over and completely forgotten about it until now.

Now she needed him. Needed someone, anyone, to help her.

**~ TBC ~**


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading and for your wonderful supportive comments! As always, this chapter is a melding of what actually happened on the show, and what my imagination would like to see the characters do, so some of it will be the same, some will be different. Eventually we'll end up in the same place ...
> 
> You probably shouldn't need the reminder, but I figure it's always best to let people know in case they want to avoid being spoiled. Spoilers for ALL aired episodes, up to and including "One Door Closes", and for the preview for "Afterlife" that aired at the end of the show on Tuesday. I have also read the write up for the next episode titled "Melinda" and while I know no more than the tv write up says, I'm speculating on its content, which may or may not be similar to how the show actually plays out. Just so you're forewarned. :)
> 
> Please enjoy and know I always love to hear from you. :)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

They blew a hole clean through the outside wall to breach the Playground.

It made Coulson cross. They’d had people inside, people who’d been trusted with codes and schematics. Why wreck the place when they could just walk in?

He stood patiently in his office, listening to Gonzales talk, and wondering about the future of Shield. It had been hard enough dealing with Hydra tearing them apart and having to rebuild from scratch, but hearing that another ‘faction’ of his organization had done the same elsewhere in secret - he’d reached out to all known Shield agents to bring them back into the fold - and believed they had claim to the top of the ranks filled him with despair.

_Fury created you. Made sure he had an heir._ Was that true? Probably. Did that make it wrong? He didn’t believe so. He and Fury had been on the same page regarding many things before the transfer of leadership; it wasn’t like Fury had had to brainwash him. Or maybe he had … despite May’s assertions that he was the same man now as before his death, others apparently felt differently, and even he himself sometimes wondered if Fury had planted more in his head that had yet to be revealed as time passed.

“You really think Fitz and Simmons are going to help you?” he asked, frowning.

“They’re Shield agents,” Gonzales replied. “I’ll let them make the decision themselves.”

A shot rang out and one of the guards at the door dropped. May stepped over him. “Made mine.” She shot the other guard and Gonzales in quick succession and pulled out a knife to slice the zip-tie that held him.

“That was quite the entrance.”

Their eyes met for but a moment and though he said nothing, he could see she understood how thankful he was for her support.

“It’s time,” she said quickly, grabbing a case from a hidden compartment and thrusting it into his arms while she activated another hidden space behind the wall. “This’ll keep you going for a few days.”

“May - “

She pushed him towards the opening. “Go.”

“What will you - “ He never got to finish the thought. She pushed him into the elevator.

“You have to go. Without you there is no Shield.” She pushed the button. “Go. Find Skye.”

And then he was gone. She wished him Godspeed as she closed the hidden panel, barely finishing as footsteps clicked up the hallway and entered the room. May lifted her hands in surrender.

“Where is he?” the female agent asked.

“I don’t know.”

The woman snorted and activated her comm. “Commander?”

May couldn’t hear his answer.

“No, but I’ve got Agent May. She helped him escape.”

“Yes sir.”

The two women narrowed eyes at one another as the guard disarmed May, patted her down for further weapons and zip-tied her hands.

“He will make you talk you know.”

May smirked. “Don’t count on it.”

“We have ways.”

“Funny.” May tossed her head. “I’m a career Shield agent and yet I don’t recall torture ever being the way we deal with enemies, let alone people who are supposedly on our own side.” _Small victory,_ she thought as the woman glared at her and left, leaving instructions for the guards to keep her in Coulson’s office until Gonzales arrived.

She sat on Coulson’s chair for comfort while she waited, content in the knowledge that whatever happened to her didn’t matter. She’d helped Phil escape and his life was more important than her own. At least with him out they still had hope.

~ ~ ~ 

All her training with May hadn’t prepared her for an intense woodland hunt that had already gone on for hours. She could barely breathe and her legs were numb from running. Her eyes, blinded by the tears she could no longer hold back, were swollen and sore and she could barely see through the red haze that sank over her vision as exhaustion began to take her.

“Skye!”

She turned to find Bobbi and a man she didn’t know fifty feet behind her. The man drew his weapon and aimed it at her.

Bobbi reached for him. “No!” His finger was quicker on the trigger. Skye felt barely a moment of panic before her survival instincts kicked in and she raised her arms in defense. 

The air itself seemed to bend and reshape as time slowed. Power spilled forth from her fingertips, pushing the bullet away from her and back towards those after her. She watched in growing horror as the bullet sliced into the tree behind it, rending it to shards that spewed out in all directions, the wave of power lifting the two agents off their feet and tossing them like beach balls. The forest beyond them bent and swayed as if in the grip of a hurricane.

“Oh my god,” she whispered, lifting her hands to her mouth and hoping against hope that she hadn’t killed them.

A bolt of light blinded her momentarily. When it dimmed she saw a man standing in front of her. A man like no other she’d ever seen. He had no eyes, just smooth flesh over the space where his eyes should be. It was the creepiest thing she’d ever seen. Before she’d had a chance to catch her breath, he held out his arms towards her and spoke. “Come with me, Skye. Come home with us. We’ll take care of you.”

For a brief moment she wondered if Coulson or May had sent him, if going back to Shield was what he meant by ‘home’. Her gut told her it wasn’t, but that whoever this man was, he was like her and he wouldn’t harm her. She didn’t know how she knew, but she was sure of it.

She nodded, forgetting he couldn’t see, but he smiled anyway and stepped forward, folding his arms around her and winking them both away in another flash of light.

~ ~ ~ 

Coulson ran his hand over Lola lovingly, allowing it to rest on the smooth, cool metal for a moment. “You’ll be safe here, Lola. I’ll come back for you as soon as I can.” He patted her but literally jumped back several feet when three knocks came back at him from inside the car. 

“What the hell … ?” He opened the trunk and his mouth hung open as Hunter unfolded himself rather ungracefully and climbed out.

“Thanks mate. It was getting kind of cramped in there. You always talk to your car?”

Coulson shook his head. “What the hell … “ he repeated, lost for words. “How … why … when … “

“Agent May said you needed backup and that I should stick to you like glue wherever you went.”

A brief smile crossed his face as he thought of her, but then his forehead creased. “How did you know I’d be taking Lola?”

Hunter shrugged. “Beats me. May told me to hide in the trunk and not make my presence known until we were on the road or you’d try to argue me out of coming with you.” He smirked at Coulson’s bewildered look. “She knows you pretty well, mate. Better than you know yourself I’d say.”

“You might be right.” His eyes focused on Hunter’s holding them steady. “Can I trust you?”

“May seems to think so,” he answered evenly. “Got a pen and paper?”

Nonplussed, Coulson reached into the glove compartment and pulled them out. Hunter took them, and, leaning against the car for support, signed his name. He handed them back. “You offered me a permanent position in Shield. Consider this my contract.”

“What about Bobbi and Mack?”

“Whatever it is they’re trying to do, I want no part of it. I believe in you, Director Coulson, and as per May’s orders I will stand with you.”

Coulson smiled, a heavy weight on his chest lifting slightly. He extended a hand. Hunter took it and they shook. “Glad to have you on my team, Hunter.”

“Good to be here. Where to next, boss?”

“There.” Coulson gestured at a beat up old chevy parked beside his beloved Lola in the old barn. 

Hunter winced. “She ain’t pretty.”

“No she isn’t,” he agreed as they climbed in and started on their way. “But Lola’s too recognizable and you know they’ll be after us, especially when they discover she’s missing.”

“Where are we headed?”

“To find Skye.”

“Do you know where she is?”

“No idea. But I know where she was and I’m hoping that’ll help me find where she is now.”

~ ~ ~ 

Gonzales looked her up and down, eyes finally meeting hers after a long minute. “Agent May. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person. Your reputation precedes you.”

“As does yours.”

“Please, have a seat.” He walked over to stand beside the couch. May chose to sit back down in Coulson’s chair. She could see the gesture wasn’t lost on him as he settled down in the middle.

“I don’t suppose you’d be willing to take this off.” She lifted her hands above the desk.

“You’ll understand why I dare not take that chance. You haven’t earned the nickname The Cavalry for nothing.”

She stiffened at the name and immediately wished she hadn’t. Gonzales was obviously as perceptive as Coulson and she couldn’t afford to give him any advantage.

“Let’s get to business, shall we?” His voice sounded pleasant and relaxed but there was steel behind his eyes. “You’ve been working with Phil Coulson ever since his death and resurrection. You’ve also been acquainted with him, dare I say friends? since your Academy days. I think it’s safe to say you know him better than anyone.”

“Is there a point to this or are we just working on my autobiography?”

“You’re a good agent, Agent May. One of the best. You’re intelligent and resourceful, tough as nails and loyal to the end.”

“Where exactly do you think flattery is going to get you?”

“You’ve chosen to be loyal to Coulson. I respect that choice even though I think it’s the wrong one. I used to think he was a good man too and once upon a time wouldn’t have questioned his appointment as the new Director. But he died, as people often do in this job, and should have been left that way. Fury’s crazy experiments with alien DNA should never have been sanctioned in the first place, but to use it to bring someone back from the dead and then put that person in charge of one of the most important security organizations in the world? Do you not see that Fury has compromised what Shield stands for? Coulson has alien DNA running through his veins. He’s not even human anymore.”

“Yes he is.” Hot anger bubbled inside her. 

“Can you not see his behaviour since coming back has been erratic and nonsensical?” Gonzales sat forward in earnest. “He was driven to carve incomprehensible symbols that led to a search for a hidden alien city, killing innocents in the process. Do you honestly think he would have followed that path if that alien compulsion hadn’t driven him to? Do you not see he isn’t in control of what he’s doing?” He stopped for a breath and watched her narrowly. “I respect that Coulson is your friend but we’re here now to put things back on track. We have no intention of harming him, we just don’t want Shield to be under the control of a madman who’s corrupting its agenda.”

“I don’t see it that way.”

“Rose coloured glasses. Your personal feelings for Coulson are clouding your judgment, Agent May. You might see things differently when he needs The Cavalry to pull another Bahrain.”

She stiffened again, fighting to hold her anger in. Gonzales stood. “Guards, take her down to a holding cell and make damn sure she’s secure.” He looked over at her and from the expression on his face she could see the kid gloves were off. “We’ll talk again later.”

**~ TBC ~**


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the drill, right? Spoilers for everything that's aired to date, plus any promo material for the next couple of episodes. Much of my story comes from my (overly) fertile imagination and will not resemble the actual story. Anything that does, does not belong to me and I am making no money on it, just thoroughly enjoying playing in Marvel's sandbox for a while. :)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

He watched her as she sat absolutely motionless in her cage. She was all the more fearsome and regal for her lack of movement; in her he could see the restrained strength and determination and the immense strength of will it took for her to hold it all in.

He wanted Melinda May on his side.

She was a formidable woman, one he believed many underestimated, even as aware of her reputation as none could fail to be. Coulson was a lucky man, Gonzales thought as he continued to watch her on the monitor. One who didn’t deserve to have the loyalty of one such as she. She would make an incredible second in command if only he could convince her to switch sides.

Bobbi knocked and entered without waiting for a response. She came over to join him at the desk and glanced at the monitor. “She looks so calm and nonthreatening,” she observed. “Don’t underestimate her.”

“I was just thinking the same thing.”

“Are you trying to figure out how to turn her?”

“I am.”

“Good luck. I wouldn’t bank on having any success there. She is completely devoted to Coulson.”

He turned and looked up at her. “Are they … “ He left the question unasked.

“I don't think so. I think they’re just old friends.” Bobbi shrugged. “If there is anything more to their relationship, they’re hiding it well. In the months I’ve been with them I’ve never caught even a hint of a rumour and in a place as small as this it’s hard to keep secrets.”

“I’ll assume you’re right then.” He shifted his gaze back to May. “Hunter?”

She swallowed. “He’s with them.”

“Are you sure?”

“He pulled a gun on Mack.”

“Is that going to be a problem for you?”

She waited a beat before answering. “No sir.”

“Good.” He rose. “I’m going to go talk to our prisoner again.”

“Do you want me to join you?”

“I think I might have better success one-on-one.”

~ ~ ~ 

Skye looked around her, stunned by what she saw. “What is this place? Who are you?”

The man smiled at her, looking no less creepy for the pleasant expression. “My name is Gordon. This is my home. Our home.”

“ _Our_? Who else is here?”

“People like us, Skye. Many of us. People with gifts that normal people don’t understand and are afraid of.”

She looked around at the stone, wood, and marble, the beautiful furnishings and tapestries hanging on the walls. “Is this a prison? A mental hospital? Am I crazy?”

Another man walked into the room, this one taller and dark haired. She looked him up and down, noting with relief that he appeared completely normal. On the surface anyway ...

“You’re not crazy, Skye. You’re special,” he said softly.

She threw her arms up in the air. “How come everyone knows my name? I have no idea who you are but you all seem to know me.”

“My name is Lincoln, and we’ve been waiting for you.”

~ ~ ~

“She’s not here.”

Hunter’s eyebrows rose as Coulson joined him in the cabin’s main room. “Did you expect her to be? You said you told her to run.”

“We did, but there are a lot of nooks and crannies in every Shield facility. She might have found somewhere secure to hide.”

“Well since she didn’t, are there any clues telling us where she might have gone?”

“She left in a hurry, which means she won’t have had time to cover her tracks. We follow them and see if there are signs of a fight anywhere.”

“Great. Boy scout stuff.” Hunter sighed. 

“You said you wanted to help.”

“I said I wanted to join Shield. May told me I had no choice but to help you.”

Coulson shrugged. “If it makes you feel any better, I was never a successful boy scout either.”

“Even better. The blind leading the blind.”

~ ~ ~ 

“I admire you enormously, Agent May.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Really? You have a very strange way of showing it.”

Gonzales looked around the cell. “If I could let you out I would but you’re far too dangerous for that.”

“I’m surprised you’re even alone in here with me. Aren’t you afraid for your own safety?”

He ignored her sarcasm. “Harming me would do you no good and you’re smart enough to know it.”

“Why are you here then, Commander?”

“To persuade you to join us.”

She arched the eyebrow again. “Has hell frozen over?”

“I know you think you’d be betraying Coulson - “

“I would be,” May interrupted firmly. “And that’s something I won’t do.”

“Shield is bigger than one man. It’s more than all of us. You need to start thinking about the bigger picture, Agent May. Being devoted to one man and following him blindly is very dangerous.”

“Not when that man is right.”

“I’m sure that’s what Grant Ward thought about Agent Garrett. Yes, I know all about that debacle. I’ve made it my business to know everything that’s happened since Shield fell to Hydra, and everything that happened before that led to it. The petty struggles of men trying to hold onto power don’t concern me. I’m only interested in preserving our organizations’ future.”

“It isn’t like that.” A slow burn began to simmer in the pit of her stomach. “Phil didn’t ask for the job; he didn’t want it. Fury forced it on him. I know, I was there.”

“That may be so, but if that’s the case then he should be willing to step aside and let someone better qualified take over.”

“That someone being you.”

“Try to see it objectively, Agent May. If you were just another agent working in another facility and not Coulson’s closest friend, what would you think of what he’s done? Agent Garrett took the alien serum, had crazy visions and began carving illegible symbols, and ultimately ended up killing people in his quest for the truth. Ward stood by his side and supported him all through it. How is that story any different than yours and Coulson’s?”

She stood angrily, heat suffusing her cheeks. “I am nothing like Ward and Phil is nothing like Garrett.”

“If you say so.” Gonzales rose from his chair, signalling that he was ready to leave the cell. “But to someone outside the ranks with an objective eye, the stories look awfully similar. Who’s to say which of you are the bad guys and which are the good guys?” The force field lowered for a moment to allow him to exit, then snapped back into place. “Think about our little chat, Agent May. It’s time for you to be honest with yourself about who you are and what you stand for.”

~ ~ ~ 

Their search led them to a large clearing in the middle of the forest.

“Is that what I think it is?” Hunter asked, pointing to the center where a fresh tree stump stood, surrounded by wood shards. Both men headed to it in silence. 

Coulson ran his hand over the stump gingerly, eyes scanning the debris. “Yes, this was it. Skye did this.”

“With her powers? Holy jesus.”

Coulson met his gaze. “She is truly more powerful than we can imagine, but she would only have unleashed this power defensively. May’s been teaching her how to focus her emotions and try to keep the power under control but she loses it when she’s afraid. This was where the standoff occurred. I’m sure of it.”

“Okay, so where did she go after doing this? Did they take her?”

Coulson shook his head. “I don’t believe so. They’d have contacted me to gloat if they had her. No, they tried to take her and she fought back.”

Hunter looked at the destruction all around them. “I’d say she won that round.”

“Perhaps.” Coulson was noncommittal. “Scan around the tree trunk. See if you can find anything.” He pulled out his own scanner and began to make larger circles within the clearing. 

After some minutes Hunter broke the silence. “Here. I’ve got something.” He pointed at a spot on the ground. “Blood. Hers or theirs?”

“Given the probable trajectory … “ He did some calculations in his head. “It’s their blood, not hers.”

“Are you sure?”

“Not a hundred percent but I found something over here. Look.” The two men walked to the edge of the clearing where Coulson had been scanning. “Scorch marks.” He pointed at the ground. “Like lightning struck. Just here.”

“Can she do that too?” Hunter’s eyes were wide.

“Not that I’m aware of, but I do recall seeing something recently that could have made these marks, and it would explain Skye’s disappearance.”

Hunter held out his arms. “I’m all ears.”

~ ~ ~ 

Garner breathed a sigh of relief upon leaving his client. At the rate he was going it seemed his minor was going to be getting him more work than his major. Psychology had been a side interest, not a vocation, yet it seemed he was being called for more psychological consults than genetic work lately.

He got into the car and finally took out his phone, checking it for messages. There was one from a number he didn’t recognize. A part of him hoped it was Melinda. He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed her until they were working together again. Now he missed her even more.

He listened to the message with interest and growing concern. “What are they doing to you, Skye?” he murmured as he started the car and turned on the heat against the night’s chill. He hadn’t expected to hear from her ever again, let alone so soon. It worried him. Had they not taken his advice and left her where she was to blindly stumble through her transformation alone? While trying to function as a field agent? He couldn’t believe they would do such a thing, especially May. He knew her better than that. This girl _meant_ something to her and she was very protective of the things she cared about, few though they were.

He returned the call, letting it ring and ring but eventually giving up when there was no answer or voice entreating him to leave a message. On a whim he tried May’s number as well but there was no answer there either. “What the hell?” he muttered to himself. Worried, he tried one more number.

“Hello? who’s speaking?”

“Phil? It’s Andrew.”

“Andrew. Didn’t expect to be hearing from you so soon. What’s on your mind?”

“It’s about Skye. She called me and left a message.”

“She did?” Coulson’s voice was sharp as he interrupted. “When?”

“About six hours ago. I was in with a client - long story - and only just tried to return her call but she isn’t answering.”

“I’m not surprised. She’s vanished.”

“Vanished? How? Where?” His anxiety level, already pushing upwards, ratcheted up several notches as Coulson quickly filled him in. “This couldn’t come at a worse time for her.”

“It’s not exactly ideal for the rest of us either.”

Garner heard the barely restrained irritation in Coulson’s voice. “I believe it. Could I speak with Melinda?”

“She’s not with us. She stayed at the base to try to hold our ground while we came looking for Skye.”

Panic tore at him. “She’s not answering either.”

“Hopefully that just means she’s busy. I’ll try her too.” Coulson didn’t need to say what they were both thinking - that May wasn’t answering because she didn’t want to talk to him. “Listen, Andrew can you do something for me? Keep trying both Skye and May. Leave messages and let me know if you hear from either of them. Immediately.”

“Will do.” Garner’s gut told him something was very wrong, and though he knew it might be nothing more than Melinda ignoring him again, he made the split-second decision to cancel his appointments for the next few days and head back to Shield headquarters to make sure she was safe.

**~ TBC ~**


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the spoiler drill, right? 
> 
> This chapter is kind of a blending of Afterlife and my imagination, so some of the scenes are real, some are similar to the show, and some are completely fabricated. Anything you recognize isn't mine, just having fun playing with it. And seriously, I'm rather impressed that many of the scenes I've imagined in my head have actually come to pass, even if not quite the same way I've written them. It makes me happy to know I'm on the same wavelength as the show's writers. :)
> 
> Enjoy!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

“So, how exactly is that supposed to help us find Skye?”

“It doesn’t.” Coulson held back a sigh “But at least we have an idea of where she might have gone, and knowing she isn’t with the other Shield gives me some measure of comfort.”

“What do we do now?”

“We head back to the cabin for the night. It’s getting dark and I don’t know these woods very well.”

“And the plan?” Hunter asked as they began to walk back.

“We’ll figure it out in the morning.”

They walked in silence all the way back, companionably sharing a drink once they returned. Coulson stood and shook his head when Hunter picked up the bottle for seconds. “No thanks. I need to keep my head clear.” He leaned on the kitchen counter with a heavy heart, staring out at the darkening sky much like Skye had only hours earlier. “I lost her,” he said sadly. “I lost Skye and Shield all in one day.”

“Don’t blame yourself, it’s not like anyone saw it coming.”

“I should have seen it.”

“You’re the director, not a bloody psychic. You can’t know everything, especially when people are taking pains to keep secrets from you.”

 _I wish May was here._ Hunter had been a good partner so far and in fact was saying much the same things he’d have expected to hear from May, but there was just something about her presence at stressful times like these that he found comforting.

“Let’s try to get some rest. I’ve a feeling tomorrow’s going to be a long day.”

~ ~ ~ 

Skye watched Lincoln’s back as he left the cottage ahead of them. The woman beside her made her very uncomfortable and though she’d only met Lincoln one day earlier, his presence made her feel much less anxious.

“Why are you letting Raina stay here?” she asked the woman. “I don’t understand why you’d keep a killer here amongst you.”

The woman looked over at her as they walked. “Everyone is a killer given the right circumstances. Just as everyone can be redeemed. The Change changes more than just your body, Skye. It changes the way you think, how you see the world, where you place your priorities. What Raina once was, she is no more. She needs to come to terms with that just as you do, but as her physical transformation was so much greater than yours, that’s where her focus will be for now - accepting herself and learning to see herself not as a monster but as a beautiful, unique creation.”

“Right.”

“You’re young and cynical yet, and I regret that you went through The Change unprepared and with no guide to help you. Had I known it was coming I would have striven to be there for you.”

“Who are you anyway, and why do you call this place your home?”

“Because I founded it,” she said simply. “We, people like us, need a safe place to learn about ourselves and grow. A place where we never have to fear the misunderstanding of mere mortals.”

“Mere … ” Skye stopped dead and faced her. “Are we … “ She shook her head. “We can’t be immortal. That’s impossible.”

“Not impossible. It’s one of the gifts, or a curse depending on how you choose to look at it, like all the others. Mortal minds have trouble comprehending what is beyond their scope. It frightens them, what they can’t understand, and they try to destroy it. That’s why there is need of this place.”

“My friends aren’t frightened of me. They just want to help.”

The woman inclined her head gracefully. “Then you are one of the lucky ones. But however helpful and understanding they may be, they will never truly understand you now and won’t be able to help you become the person you’re meant to be. You belong here with us.”

Skye’s gut feeling was telling her this woman was right but she dug her heels in nonetheless. “What if I don’t want to stay?”

“Give me three days, Skye. Three days to be open and share everything you’ve become with me and I will guide you and teach you. If after three days you still want to go, I’ll have Gordon take you back to the place you call home.”

The deal sounded fair to her, provided the woman held up her end of the bargain. If not … well she might come to see just how powerful Skye had become. “Fine. Three days. But can you get a message to my friends? I don’t want them to worry about me.”

“It is not customary, but then your situation is unique.” She inclined her head again. “I will allow it.”

“Thank you.”

~ ~ ~ 

“Bloody hell, you’re full of surprises today.”

Coulson raised an eyebrow and smiled. “Too much for you, Hunter? Always expect the unexpected. Didn’t Bobbi teach you that much when you were married? It’s Shield’s first edict.”

“We didn’t really talk shop when we were together.”

“Touche. Anyway, I think that’s it for the surprises. For now anyway.”

“Well that’s enough isn’t it?”

Peterson rose from the cockpit and walked to the back of the jet to join them. “We’re cruising at twenty-four thousand feet for now. Do we have a destination?”

“Mexico?” Hunter supplied hopefully.

“Not yet,” Coulson said at the same time. “I’m putting out some feelers on another ally we might be able to convince to join us.”

“Oh? Do tell.”

Coulson turned his face from the computer to smile at Hunter. “Wouldn’t it be more fun as a surprise?”

“You - “

Just then the air was rent with a sudden crack and flash of light. A man stood before them, a man with no eyes. Coulson stood. “You!” he said forcefully. “You took Skye.”

“I did,” Gordon confirmed. “At her request.”

“Where is she?”

“She’s safe. She wanted you to have this.” He handed Coulson a folded piece of paper.

“Tell me where she - “ But the man was gone in another flash of light before he could finish his sentence. “Dammit.”

“My, people come and go so strangely here,” Hunter quoted lightly.

Coulson ignored him, sitting back down and opening the paper. 

_~ Don’t worry about me DC. I’m fine. I’ll be staying a few days with some new friends. Back soon. Tell May if anything happens to you while I’m gone, I’ll kick her ass when I get back. Miss you. Skye ~_

While he couldn’t help but smile upon reading it, his throat closed up and tears pricked the backs of his eyes. He missed both his girls right now, and while Skye had said not to worry about her, he couldn’t help himself. 

May was another story altogether, one he’d been trying not to think about. He knew he never need worry about her but he always did anyway, especially when she was alone with the enemy and he wasn’t there to have her back. She’d say _she_ was the one who had his back but in truth they were a team. Always had been, always would be.

“Good news?” Peterson asked.

Coulson refolded the note and pocketed it. “As good as it gets right about now. I’ll take it.” A beep on the computer drew his attention. “We have a destination. San Francisco.”

~ ~ ~ 

_She knelt amidst the carnage, the overwhelming stench of blood and death the only thing she was aware of. She retched and vomited. Tears streamed down her face._

_She was unaware of all of it._

_It wasn’t until they were out in the open with the sun burning her eyes and the hot air scorching her lungs that she realized Phil had picked her up and carried her out. She looked up at him, finally realizing he was there in front of her, speaking her name, hand caressing her face as his eyes searched hers for signs that she was okay._

_She wasn’t. She would never be okay again._

May woke suddenly from the fitful sleep she’d dropped into, heart pounding furiously, the smell of blood and death filling her nostrils once again. Why had he reminded her of Bahrain? Damn him. It wasn’t like she needed reminding. The memory of what she’d done, what she’d become, was never far from her conscious mind, though thankfully she hadn’t had one of the nightmares in quite some time. Until now.

Bobbi’s footsteps on the stairs had her instantly alert. “The Commander wants you to take us to headquarters. He’s got Mack readying the Bus.”

“And what incentive would I have for doing that?”

“You’d get out of here.” Bobbi lowered the force field and drew an icer out, ready. “Please don’t try anything. I don’t want to have to hurt you. I know you can’t see it, but we really are on the same side.”

May began to walk, Bobbi following behind. “No, I really can’t see it.”

“Hopefully one day you will. Gonzales wants you and Coulson working with us, not against us. So do I.”

“I do believe _you’re_ the ones who attacked us and now you want to be friends? Even if we are on the same side, or profess to be, taking down a leader by force is called insurrection. A military coup, if you like. Whatever you want to call it, it’s still treason.”

Bobbi didn’t answer.

Gonzales was waiting for her in the cockpit. “I trust you’ll get us there safely, Agent May.” His tone drew her eyes away from the controls. “I can’t handcuff you and expect you to fly, but I know you’re smart enough not to try anything. If you do, know that I have two teams closing in on Coulson’s location now and while they have orders not to kill, those orders will be rescinded if you even think of taking us out. Are we clear?”

“Crystal.” She smiled humourlessly as she turned back to the controls. “I wouldn’t dare risk Coulson’s plane anyway. She was already nearly destroyed once and he’d have my head if I damaged her in any way.”

“Good. Take us up and I’ll give you the coordinates.”

~ ~ ~ 

An aircraft carrier. A freaking aircraft carrier. No wonder they’d never been found after Hydra. They hadn’t wanted to be found. It made her angry - very angry - that they’d hidden for a year after the attack, building up their own private arsenal to take down the real leader of Shield. 

Gonzales entered the boardroom and shut the door behind him, leaving them alone. “It’s come to my attention that I’ve been handling you the wrong way.” An acerbic response burned her tongue but May kept silent, only arching an eyebrow in response. “I have Shield’s best interest at heart and am willing to do whatever it takes to see that she is being led properly, whether that be by Coulson, myself, or someone else.”

“If you had issues with Shield’s leadership you could have just come to talk to us. A violent coup isn’t the best way to earn people’s trust.”

“I know and I’m sorry.” Gonzales put the case he’d brought with him on the table and opened it. He took out a shiny antique gun and slid it along the table to her. “If you don’t believe me, go ahead and shoot. You’re within your rights to eliminate any perceived threat to Shield.”

May picked up the gun, studied it for a moment and slid it back along the table to him. “Even you wouldn’t be stupid enough to hand me a loaded gun.”

He picked it up and clicked it, letting the magazine fall to the table. Their eyes met and held. “I mean what I say and I say what I mean. We will bring Agent Coulson in, with or without you, and we will work out who’s best to carry Shield into the future. I’d like you to be a part of any decisions we make, Agent May. You’re a highly respected, valuable member of this organization and as a member of our board would be a strong voice in support of Agent Coulson when he makes his case. What do you say, will you join us?”

She wanted to say many things, most of them nasty, a few possibly even rude, but a small voice somewhere in the back of her mind told her that some of what he was saying actually made sense, and if he was on the level at least they’d be treated fairly. On the other hand, she still believed whole-heartedly that Coulson was the true leader of Shield and deserved to be, and deserting him wasn’t an option. She’d sworn to always stand with him and support him, and she wouldn’t break that vow.

However, working on the inside, learning what the ‘other Shield’ was really about, and being in a position of freedom rather than being locked up, gave her a certain power that might be helpful for Coulson when he did assemble his own army and came back to confront them. If she couldn’t be out there helping him in the field, at least she could find a way to help him from the inside.

“Yes.”

**~ TBC ~**


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know the drill for spoilers - all aired episodes and previews for future episodes may fall into this story somehow.
> 
> This will likely be the last chapter of this (and my other story) for a little while - probably until early May. My husband and oldest son are both finished their school terms now (one is a student, the other a professor), and will be taking a few weeks off to spend at home with me so I anticipate not having a lot of time to myself to write. Enjoy watching a few weeks of AoS and know I'll be back with more as soon as I can. Thanks for reading and for your comments! They make me happy. :)
> 
> Enjoy!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“I’m sorry sir, I’m not authorized to let you in.”

Garner stood firm. “Then find someone who is. I’m not leaving until I see Agent May.”

The two guards looked at one another. One of them shrugged and pulled out a phone. After a short conversation, they escorted him inside, leaving him alone in a sparsely furnished room with a “wait here”.

An agent he didn’t recognize joined him shortly, setting up a communications line. “The Commander will be with you in a moment.”

“Commander?”

“Commander Gonzales.”

Garner frowned. “I’m not familiar with him. Where’s Coulson?”

She pursed her lips. “He’s no longer in charge.”

He caught the warning note in her voice and didn’t ask. _What the hell is going on?_ he wondered. He knew Coulson wasn't here and that there was something strange going on but he didn't know much more than that. Yet.

A grizzled face with white hair appeared on the screen. “Dr. Garner, I presume. It’s good to meet you. I’m Commander Gonzales.”

Garner nodded at him, cutting to the chase. “May I speak with Agent May?”

“Of course. I believe she’s your ex-wife?”

“Yes.” _Beware of this one,_ he cautioned himself. There was a hardness in the man’s eye that he didn’t like, and he’d obviously done a quick search to learn everything he could about him. 

“Is your visit personal?”

“No. I do some consulting work for Shield and I have some follow up information on a case I was working on recently.”

“I see. Here she is. I’ll leave you two to chat.”

Gonzales disappeared and May’s face replaced it. “Andrew. What are you doing?”

“Trying to find you. You weren’t answering your phone and I was worried.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” she said wryly.

“No, but on the heels of a phone message I received from Skye and that she won’t respond to when I try to call back, and after hearing what Phil had to say about what’s going on with Shield - albeit a brief summary - I was worried. Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. You haven’t managed to get through to Skye yet?”

“No.”

The dark look on her face grew noticeably distressed. “Make that your first priority, Andrew. Please.”

“What about - “

“We’re fine,” she interrupted. “Please Andrew. Find her. For me.”

He never could deny her anything. Even when he’d wanted to stay and keep trying to get through to her after Bahrain, he’d let her go because that’s what she’d wanted. “Okay. But I want you to be careful too.”

A shadow of emotion crossed her face. “I will. Trust me, I know how to take care of myself. Skye needs you more than the rest of us do right now.”

“I understand. I’ll see you soon.”

“Watch your back, Andrew. These are very dangerous people we’re facing and you have to be careful who you trust.”

~ ~ ~ 

 

“So are you going to tell me who it is we’re going to meet?” Hunter asked as they began their descent.

“Grant Ward.”

“I’m sorry, did I hear that correctly? Because I could have sworn you said Grant Ward.”

Coulson faced him squarely. “I did.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t he Hydra? Didn’t he betray you and kill a lot of Shield agents?”

“He did, but it’s not like we have a lot of options in allies these days.” Coulson pulled out his gun and checked the clip, face stony. “That doesn’t mean I trust him or ever will again.”

“I’m not really sure I’m liking this idea.”

“If you've got a better one I'm listening.”

“How can we be sure he won’t turn on us?”

“We can’t. I’m taking a gamble here, just like I did on you. Ward is one of the best specialists out there, second only to May, and we need him. I’m hoping Gonzales can be reasonable and we can avoid bloodshed but if that isn’t the case, I want as much firepower on my side as I can muster. That said gentlemen, don’t ever take your eyes off Ward, even for a second, and don’t hesitate to kill him if he turns on us. Understood?”

Peterson nodded.

“Understood.” Hunter grimaced. “Any more surprises I should beware of?”

“The day is young yet, Hunter. Wait and see.”

~ ~ ~ 

“I need you two to do something.”

Fitz stared at Bobbi warily. “What makes you think we’ll cooperate?”

“I’ll give you the option of choosing to follow Shield protocol and follow orders, knowing you’re helping uncover Coulson’s secrets and saving Shield from turning into an organization like Hydra.”

“Is there another option?”

“Not really. If you don’t take it, well then we know you’re not really with us.”

“What is it you want us to do?”

At Simmons’ entreaty, Bobbi pulled out a small cube and handed it to her. “Find a way into this. All of Coulson’s secrets are here and we need to know what they are.”

“No Gemma! Secrets are meant to be kept secret. If there are things Coulson isn’t telling us, it’s for our own protection. You remember the principle Shield was founded on, right? Protection. Sometimes that means k … keeping sensitive information out of public knowledge.”

She looked into his eyes. “That’s true, but we’re Shield agents, Fitz, and we work for whomever is in charge. They give the orders and we follow them.”

“Gemma - “ He held his hands out imploringly.

She turned away. “If you don’t want to help, that’s fine. I’ll do it myself.”

Fitz turned back to Bobbi. “I suppose if I won’t c … c … cooperate you’ll lock me up.”

“Of course not. If you don’t want to be here you’re free to leave after you’ve been debriefed.”

“Okay then. Fine. I’ll start packing.”

Simmons turned and watched his back as they left the room, a forlorn look in her eye. “I really have lost him now,” she murmured to herself.

~ ~ ~ 

The chilly mountaintop air pushed her hair into her face. The view was breathtaking but Skye was filled with dread. 

“Tell me about your ability.”

“I move things. Cause them to vibrate.”

The woman cocked her head. “How so?”

"Gordon says I tap into the natural frequency of objects and am able to change them - move them.” Skye turned away, her gaze on the faraway peaks.

“Try it. See if you can move the mountain under us.”

“Are you crazy?”

The woman smiled serenely. “Some might say so but in your heart you know better.”

“I don’t want to hurt anything or anyone.”

“Trust me, Skye. You won’t hurt the mountain and you won’t hurt me. Go ahead.”

She looked back over the peaks and valleys, allowing the thoughts of abandonment and sadness to come to the surface from where she’d buried them. She closed her eyes, a single tear escaping and winding its way slowly down her cheek. The mountain began to move as though a small earthquake was beginning deep beneath its surface. As Skye let feelings of anger and frustration join the sadness, the tremors grew stronger.

“You have an awe-inspiring ability, my dear. One of the most powerful I’ve ever seen. It’s beautiful.”

The tremors stopped and Skye opened her eyes. “You really think so? I think it’s terrifying and I want to get rid of it.”

The woman reached out and touched her arm. A tingle went up it. “That’s only because you don’t fully know how to control it. I’ll teach you. You can learn to make it a part of you, learn how to use it only when you want to.” She smiled and there was a longing in it that pulled at Skye’s heart. “I’ve been waiting years for you to find your way back to me, Daisy. Together we can work to make you into the person you were always meant to be.”

“Daisy?” Skye stepped back, breaking contact between them. “How do you know about that? Who are you?”

“My name is Jiaying. I’m your mother.”

~ ~ ~ 

May looked around the room, meeting everyone’s eyes one by one as they came her way. Ten of them sat at the table including herself, Gonzales at the head.

“I’d like to welcome Agent May to the table,” he said, his low, gravelly voice drawing everyone’s attention away from her. “It’s good that we have one of Coulson’s people joining us as we begin to bring the shattered pieces of Shield back together again. Only when we work as one can we be powerful enough to defeat our enemies.”

The agent sitting at his right hand broke in. “How do we know we can trust her?”

“She’s Shield, Agent Calderon. We must all trust one another. We all have the same goals, the same set of values.”

“She serves Coulson.” He spat the words out.

May’s eyes grew steely. “I serve Shield, not any one man or woman. It’s true I do believe Phil Coulson should remain the Director, as former Director Fury appointed him, but I will work with whomever is in charge to preserve what Shield has, and always will stand for.”

“I don’t think we need question Agent May’s loyalty any further. Now if we can proceed with business … “

At this point May divided her attention - a skill she’d worked to learn early in her career and had found invaluable since. On the one hand she was listening to Gonzales and his men and women as they talked, but another part of her mind carefully observed and analyzed each of them, noting their responses - particularly physical - to the conversation.

She focused her attention on Bobbi and Mack at first. She’d always considered herself a good observer of people and was dismayed with herself for having not seen the clues that they were traitors. _That’s twice now. First Ward, now Bobbi. How can you ever trust your impressions of people again?_ The circle of people she trusted absolutely was already small, and she feared these episodes of finding enemies posing as friends was going to cause it to close in even further.

Soon there would only be Coulson. 

Uniting her mind once more, she realized they were talking about Skye. “If you have any idea where she is, now would be the time to divulge it,” Gonzales said, looking pointedly at her. “We will find her one way or another and I wouldn’t want her to get hurt.”

“I honestly have no idea. I was afraid for her life when you attacked us so I told her to run. I’ve no idea where she went and haven’t been able to make contact with her, seeing as how you had me locked up.”

“Do you think she’s with Coulson?”

“You should know. Didn’t you have a couple of teams headed in his direction?”

“Unfortunately he’s proven to be more difficult to apprehend than we’d anticipated. Mack, I’d like you to work with Agent May to try to get in touch with Coulson and Skye. If she can convince them to come in voluntarily, we won’t risk a confrontation in which people might get hurt.”

“Yes sir.”

“One question.” May arched an eyebrow. “What do you plan to do with Skye once you have her?”

“Study her, of course. She’s unusual enough given her background as an 084, but with the GH325 serum Coulson gave her and with whatever transformation she underwent that seems to have given her some scary powers, she needs to be carefully monitored and guarded so she doesn’t hurt people. At least until we understand what makes her tick.”

May’s gut clenched. She knew what that meant; locking the girl up and, if necessary, dissecting her. Gonzales was notorious for his hard-line stance on gifteds, a stance that obviously hadn’t changed.

She nodded wordlessly, observing the reactions of those around her. Interestingly, Bobbi looked very uncomfortable at his words, more so than any of the rest of them. She noted it for future reference. _That might be useful. Bobbi may be loyal to Gonzales now but she might be able to be swayed …_

~ ~ ~ 

“Agent Coulson. How nice to see you again.”

“That’s director to you.”

“Yes of course. I’d forgotten you’d been promoted. Congratulations.” Ward opened the door to his suite wide to let them in. “You won’t need the weapons, gentlemen. We’re here as allies. We won’t hurt you.”

“We?” Coulson looked around warily as he stepped into the room. His heart nearly stopped as May appeared from the shadows. No, not May. The agent who wore her face. It had been repaired and on the surface they looked the same but the eyes were different. This woman definitely wasn’t her.

“I believe we’ve met before, though I don’t know your name," he offered.

“They call me Agent 33. That name is as good as any for now.”

Ward waved an arm. “Please sit and we can talk business. Deathlok, it’s good to see you survived.”

“Agent Peterson. I’m my own man now.”

“Good for you. And you are Lance Hunter, my pseudo-replacement on the team.”

Hunter bobbed his head.

“Something like that,” Coulson said. “I assume you know something of why we’re here.”

“I’ve heard rumours that Shield is at war with itself. Ironic, no? After trying so hard to fend off Hydra’s attack.” Seeing the blood rush to Hunter’s face, he continued. “I am not Hydra. I never was. I was loyal to Garrett and only did as I was bidden by him. Shield, Hydra, it was all the same to me. I have no loyalty to any organization in particular. I have certain skills and I follow the orders of those I choose to follow.” He faced Coulson. “Agent May and I are really not all that different.”

Coulson couldn’t stop the retort. “She is nothing like you.” He drew in a deep breath to recover his calm. “However, we’re outnumbered and were taken by surprise so we currently are at a disadvantage.”

“And you want me to help even your numbers.”

“For a price, I assume.”

“You assume correctly. However it isn’t money I want.”

“What do you want then?” Hunter demanded impatiently.

“I want back in. Agent 33 and I are to be reinstated as Shield agents with all former rank and privilege. Those are my terms, take them or leave them.”

~ TBC ~


	11. Chapter 11

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Give me command of our base and I’ll talk him in.”

Gonzales eyed her thoughtfully. “I’m willing to give you some measure of trust Agent May, but do you really think that would be wise of me?”

She gritted her teeth, focusing on controlling the wave of nausea just thinking about Coulson’s betrayed caused in her belly. “I’ve corroborated Bobbi’s claims about Coulson and quite frankly, friend or not, I’m appalled at what he’s done. I do believe Shield needs to keep its secrets but not from its own people. Whatever he’d doing is obviously risky and dangerous and he needs to be brought back in so we can monitor it. I can get him to come back without a fight. That’s what you want, isn’t it?”

“He trusts you?”

 _Apparently not enough._ “Yes.”

“Okay, I’ll leave it up to you to reach out and get him back, but if it goes south … “

“Don’t worry.” Her voice was suddenly harsh. “I know which side I’m on.”

~ ~ ~ 

“Let me go back with him.”

Jiaying tilted her head and stared at Skye. “That’s not a good idea.”

“You know how dangerous Cal is,” she pleaded. “If you just dump him and leave him like yesterday’s trash he’s going to go ballistic and people are going to get hurt.”

“Those people are not my concern.”

Skye was taken aback. “They’re mine. We can’t just let him hurt people when we have the ability to stop him.”

“I told you, he can’t stay here - “

“I’m not asking for that. Just let me go with him. I can break the news gently, and let him know it isn’t forever. I’ll go see him sometimes, as creepy as it makes me feel, if it’ll keep him calm. Just give us a few hours and have Gordon come back for me later.”

“It’s really that important to you?”

“Yes. Someone I respect and admire taught me to care for all people and try to preserve all life whenever possible.”

Jiaying inclined her head gracefully. “Very well.”

~ ~ ~ 

“I like this look much better.” Coulson nodded approvingly as Agent 33 came into the room with her own face.

“You didn’t like her as May?” Ward smirked. “Where is your better half anyway? She never leaves your side.”

“Someone had to stay back and protect the base.”

“You left her behind to take the fall while you escaped. Very manly of you.”

Coulson’s face went dark as he stared Ward down. “We can do this without you if we have to. One more word and I’ll take you up myself and push you out of the quinjet at twenty five thousand feet. Are we clear?”

“Crystal. But you’ll have to find your own way into Hydra then. Bakshi will only obey me.”

Coulson swallowed hard. “Fine. Keep him going.”

Ward nodded. “You’re the boss, boss.”

“They’re in,” Fitz called out, pointing to the screen where the feed from Peterson’s implant was visible. 

Coulson quickly joined him, glad of the distraction. Ward’s words upset him - he had a nasty feeling churning in his gut that Ward was right, he had hung May out in order to save himself and the project. _Shield is what matters not individual people. Saving Shield is my only priority here_. But the words felt hollow, even in his own mind. 

They watched in silence through Peterson’s implants, Coulson growing more and more disturbed as Bakshi deviated from the plan. “What is he doing?”

“Trying to gain their trust. It isn’t easy. Hydra is ever suspicious, especially when people go missing for months and then suddenly reappear.”

“What did you do to him after you escaped with him?”

“Nothing,” Ward said mildly. “Nothing worse than he’s done to many, many others.”

 _Expedient alliances with despicable people,_ Hunter had said when Fitz balked at working with Ward again. How true that was, and it was the one part of his job that he hated. 

Fitz broke into his thoughts. “They’re taking off.”

“Trail them. I want to know where they’re going and what they’re up to.”

Fitz looked up. “I tapped into their computers - “ He smiled. “Skye taught me a few things. They’re tracking something. Energy surges. Quantum entanglement.” His mouth dropped open as realization dawned. “The man with the power who took Cal and Raina. He teleports. They’re tracking him.”

“Maybe he can lead us to Skye,” Coulson mused, a sudden hope blossoming inside him. “She said she was with friends. Whatever you do, don’t lose them.”

~ ~ ~ 

"Skye! Where are you?" May demanded, anxiety outweighing joy in finding out the girl was alive and well.

"I'm with Cal. You have to send a team. He's dangerous, you know that." She was babbling, talking even more quickly than usual.

"Slow down, what?"

"Send a team to get him, please." 

"Skye ... Skye ... "

May looked over at Bobbi in frustration. Skye had stopped responding but there was still some background noise on the line. Bobbi's eyes lit up. "She left the line open so we could trace her. Mack and I can go get them."

May's lips pressed into a thin line. "Do it."

~ ~ ~ 

“I had her. I almost had her.” Coulson wept inside. The look on Skye’s face as the gifted had grabbed her and taken her away … it was one he’d never forget. Last time it seemed she’d gone with him willingly. This time she’d pleaded to stay, and there hadn’t been a damn thing he could do to stop the man from taking her.

“Hydra’s coming,” Ward said urgently, hearing footsteps down the corridor. “We need to retreat. We’re outmatched and outgunned and Mike here is injured. Skye’s gone and there’s nothing we can do for her now. We need to go.”

Coulson sighed. “I’ve got a plan. This is what we’re going to do.”

~ ~ ~ 

She was torn. On the one hand, they were coming in. They were okay. Coulson, Hunter, Fitz - all alive. On the other hand, Coulson had lied to her, kept her in the dark with his most sensitive - and apparently controversial - project, and finding out about it from Bobbi had been a sucker punch she hadn’t anticipated ever getting.

May wasn’t sure it was a blow she would ever recover from.

She watched as the quinjets came down for a simultaneous landing and the back hatch opened on each. She’d thought nothing else could surprise her but she’d definitely been wrong on that count. Hunter and Fitz stood as a unit in the one, but with one addition: Mike Peterson. Two others stood slightly apart from them - Grant Ward and the former Shield agent who’d borrowed her face and life. Bobbi and Coulson walked down the ramp from the other jet.

Beside her, Simmons gasped. “Hold it together,” she hissed through clenched teeth. 

“May. It’s good to see you.” The warmth in Coulson’s eyes as he came forward to greet her formed a knot in her chest. “How are things holding up here?”

“Fine.” Her voice was cold, even to her own ears. “I see you brought guests. You should have warned me.” Her eyes slid over to Ward, who smiled at her.

“Good to see you again, May. I hope you’ve been well in my absence.”

“I thought Skye shot you. Multiple times. Too bad you didn’t die.”

He shrugged. “I guess she isn’t the killer you are.”

May’s eyes swiveled back to Coulson. “Your office. Now.” She met Bobbi’s eyes briefly, an unspoken command in them.

The happy expression he’d first worn when arriving had faltered somewhat at her exchange with Ward, but it dropped completely as he shared a quick, private word with Hunter before following her.

“Good to know it’s still my office,” he said lightly as they climbed the stairs.

“I convinced Gonzales to put me in charge here until your return.”

He shut the door behind them. “How did you manage that?”

“By switching sides.”

“Excuse me?” His mouth dropped open.

“Did you like that punch to the gut? I suspect it was a lot like how I felt when Bobbi told me about the Theta Protocol.”

“You know about that?”

May took a step towards him. “I know everything. All the things you’ve done, the lies you’ve told me.” Her voice grew harsh. “How could you do this to me after everything we went through over Fury’s secret? I thought we were going to be completely open and honest with one another from then on.”

“I was … except for this.”

“I trusted you. Believed in you. I defended you to them. Tried to convince them that you weren’t the man they said you were, that I knew you better than anyone and that they must be wrong.” She sighed. “Turns out they were right and I really didn’t know you at all.”

“May - “

“No. Don’t. Don’t even try. What are you doing with Theta Protocol anyway? Creating your own private army of gifteds? Is that why you didn’t tell me, because of Bahrain and what happened to me there? People who are half human, half alien and totally incomprehensible? Is Skye part of all of this - you’re grooming her to lead an army of invincible people who serve only you?” Tears shone in her eyes.

“It’s not like that.”

May shook her head. “It doesn’t even matter what it is. It’s an off-book op that you’re keeping secret from everyone. Besides being potentially immoral, and hurtful to me given I’m your second-in-command and the one you should be sharing your secrets with, it’s irresponsible to keep it to yourself. What if something happens to you? Someone else needs to know what balls you have in play out there.”

“Someone does.”

May felt her gut clench as though she’d been sucker punched again. “Oh. I see. There is someone you trust. It just isn’t me.”

“May please, let me explain.”

As he moved towards her, hands outstretched, she shrank away. 

“This is bigger than you and me. It’s bigger than Shield itself. I knew there would be people trying to stop me when they found out and I didn’t want you to get hurt. I wanted the whole responsibility for it to be on my shoulders alone so if I went down I didn’t take anyone with me.” The pain in his eyes would once have undid her but the pain in her own heart was too great to let it through. “Please try to understand. I only kept this from you to protect you.”

“Where’ve I heard those words before?” she murmured. “Do you remember how you felt when I said them? Haven’t we learned that lying to protect someone never works out?”

“I only ever wanted you by my side, Melinda,” he said quietly after a long pause. “You were the best partner I ever had and I grieved your loss after Bahrain when you withdrew from field work. Working with you again has made these last couple of years so much better. I just wanted to protect you so you didn’t go down with me when it went south. I needed to have someone I could trust to save Shield if I lost the gamble I’m taking.”

“I don’t need protecting. You of all people should know that. I made my choice when I came back into the field for you. I made my choice when I stuck with you after Shield fell. I knew what the risks were but I accepted them. For you.”

“May - “

“I made a vow, not to Fury, to myself, that I would stand with you and protect you no matter what, but you’ve crossed a line now and gone somewhere I’m not sure I can follow.” The tears shimmered in her eyes but she stubbornly held them back. She took two steps back and pulled and icer out of the back of her jumpsuit, pointing it at him. “I stand with Shield, Phil, and I can’t let you continue doing what you’re doing behind everyone’s back. Stand down and I won’t have to hurt you.”

Her own tears were mirrored in his eyes. “Has it really come to this?”

“I’m afraid so.” The sound of footsteps on the stairs drew his eyes but not hers. Gonzales’ men walked in unannounced and headed towards them. “Please don’t resist. I don’t want you to get hurt.” She lowered her weapon as they snapped cuffs on him. “Please,” she whispered as they took him away.

He didn’t look back to see the tears spilling down her cheeks as they led him out.

~ TBC ~


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there! Another chapter is ready - you know the spoiler detail, any and all spoilers for anything that's already aired, plus episode notes for the last 3 episodes that will be airing.
> 
> Given what we saw this week, my story will definitely be veering a little away from canon, but I will still try to incorporate some elements (scenes and dialogue) from the actual show in my story, and hopefully we'll all end up in roughly the same place in the end. :)
> 
> (also, the Omega Protocol is entirely a figment of my imagination)
> 
> Enjoy!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Skye was shocked. Had she just seen what she’d thought she’d seen? Coulson and Ward fighting side by side? Hell must have indeed frozen over. A few days away and everything had changed. 

Her jaw set and her face was grim as she left the privacy of her room and sought out Jiaying, whom she found sitting on a bench beneath a grove of cherry trees, eyes closed peacefully.

“I want to go back,” Skye said without preamble.

The woman’s eyes opened slowly. “I’m sorry we brought you back so abruptly and that things didn’t work out as planned,” she said slowly.

“I want to go back.”

Jiaying tilted her head thoughtfully. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“It’s not an idea, it’s a request.”

“You belong here with us, Daisy.”

“I’m not Daisy,” Skye bit out stubbornly. “My name is Skye. And you can’t keep me here. My friends are in trouble and I need to help them.”

“You need to stay here with your family. It’s safe here. We can protect you.”

“I’m not a child, dammit!” she exploded. “You and Cal both think I’m still your little baby to protect and do little girly things with but I’m a grown up, Jiaying, and I got there without your help. I can make decisions for myself and I can take care of myself, now take me back!”

Jiaying stood and faced her and for a moment, seeing the spark in her mother’s eyes, Skye was afraid. Then she remembered. _Your mother’s gift is healing. I put her back together and she healed herself. It was miraculous._

“Very well. Gordon will take you back. You only need say his name if you wish to return and he’ll come back to get you.” She stepped forward and gripped Skye’s upper arms. “Be careful, my daughter. I hope to see you again soon.”

Skye nodded wordlessly. 

~ ~ ~ 

Fitz darted a second look at Simmons, then a third. She appeared to be engrossed in some theoretical chemistry text but he knew her well enough to know she wasn’t really reading. “Gemma,” he called out softly.

After a moment she looked up. “Fitz?”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, why?”

“With everything that’s going on - “ he trailed off. “And I left you behind - “

“That was part of the plan. You didn’t have to worry about me.”

“I did anyway.” The declaration burst out before he had a chance to stop it. Her eyes warmed as a smile spread across her face and his heart leapt. For the first time since being together at the bottom of the ocean, he felt they might just be okay. “You’re my best friend, Gemma, and I’m always going to worry about you.” He reached out a hand towards her. “We stick together from now on, okay?”

Tentatively she reached out and touched his hand, fingers twining slowly. She nodded, meeting his eyes again. “Together.”

They shared a moment of silence, hands clasped tightly, then worry clouded his face again. “Do you know what’s going on with Agent May? I thought she’d be happy to have us back - particularly C - Coulson - yet she looked at him like she hated him and then gave him up to Gonzales. Did she sell us out?”

“I don’t know, Fitz.” She withdrew her hand, twining her own hands together anxiously. “I don’t understand what’s going on with her - with anything around here anymore.”

A figure in black detached itself from the shadows. “I’ll tell you exactly what’s going on,” May said, joining them. She sat down in the chair opposite the couch. “It’s time to stop keeping secrets so we’re all working on the same side.”

~ ~ ~ 

She entered his private sanctuary, secretly a little jealous of the fact that he had one while she had to share her space with so many others.

“Agent May, how can I help you?”

“I’m initiating the Omega Protocol, Agent Koenig.”

HIs pleasant face, normally smiling, grew suddenly somber. “That’s a very serious thing.”

“I’m well aware of that and I wouldn’t do it if it weren’t absolutely necessary.”

He inclined his head brusquely. “I’ll need your official identification and password.” She gave it to him and waited while he tapped on the computer for a few moments. “It’s done. Let the record show that as of this moment, Agent Coulson has been removed from his position as director of Shield to be replaced by Agent Melinda May by authorization of former director Fury.” He took a deep breath. “I await your orders, Director May.”

~ ~ ~ 

“I still can’t believe you’re doing this.” Coulson’s eyes slid her way as they walked down the corridor together.

“Don’t take it personally.” Her voice was flat, emotionless, matching her face and body language. “Like you, I only have Shield’s best interests at heart. I’m doing what I believe is necessary to protect the integrity of this organization.”

“By participating in Gonzales’ coup. Where I come from they call that being a traitor.” His voice too was nearly emotionless but she, who knew him so well, could detect the faint note of sadness in his words. 

She didn’t answer. “In here.” She led them into an empty meeting room and stood waiting.

“Now what?”

Again she said nothing. Several minutes later, footsteps could be heard and Gonzales joined them.

“Please shut the door behind you, Commander.”

He did as bidden and came to stand on her side of the table, opposite Coulson. She looked at both of them, meeting their eyes in turn, and took a deep breath. “I’m giving you two gentlemen two hours to talk out your differences and figure out how to work together. The room will be locked and under guard so don’t even try to leave. If after the time allotted is done and you can’t come to an agreement, I’ll have no choice but to lock you both up and proceed without you.”

Coulson’s eyes opened wide. “May - “

Gonzales interrupted. “I appreciate your efforts in bringing in Agent Coulson and his band of rebels, but this exceeds your authority, Agent May.”

“Director May now. I put the Omega Protocol in place and have relieved Agent Coulson of his position.” Her face hardened. “You may not like it but I have the authority to do whatever I wish with both of you. The clock starts now and I’ll be back in two hours.”

She left the room without looking back, locking the door behind her and leaning back on it for a moment before walking purposefully away from them.

~ ~ ~ 

There was silence for a full minute after she’d left, then Gonzales whistled. “She’s quite the woman.”

A guffaw burst out but Coulson was just able to hold back the disparaging comment that came to mind. “I’ve known her for twenty years and yet she still manages to surprise me.”

“I’d say she’s a keeper then but this probably isn’t the right time or place for relationship advice.”

“At the moment I think she hates me so I don’t think it would be helpful at all.”

“Love and hate are just opposite sides of the same coin, Phil. What you’ve done wouldn’t hurt her so much if she didn’t care so much.”

The words cut like Loki’s staff, straight to the heart, but Coulson swallowed the pain and sat down. “I know May well enough to know she isn’t joking around so we’d best get started if we want to avoid sharing a cell.”

“Where do we begin?” Gonzales sat heavily, leaning his cane on the table.

“Despite our many differences, we have one thing in common - Hydra. May’s right, we’re going to have to work together to bring them down.”

~ ~ ~ 

She sat in Coulson’s office - her office now, technically - staring at the wall that had once held his alien carvings, wondering how they’d ended up so far apart when they’d once been so close. So far apart as to almost be on opposing sides, though she banished that thought as soon as it crossed her mind. 

Had she done the right thing in forcing their hand? May hoped so. The Hydra threat, quiet though it had been of late, was still out there and Shield would be easily destroyed if they attacked while its factions were busy fighting each other for control. _This isn’t how Fury envisioned the rebuild I’m sure,_ she thought wryly, and she wished fervently that he’d resurface and take control again, turning them back in the right direction.

There was a sudden knock at the door and Bobbi poked her head in. “Do you have a minute?”

“Several. Come in.”

Bobbi sat opposite her and the two women stared thoughtfully at one another for a long minute. “Do you think you’re doing the right thing, taking control and forcing them to work together?”

“I hope so. It has to be better than the alternative.” May let out a long breath. 

“Agreed.” Bobbi smiled admiringly. “What you did took balls, May.”

May grimaced. “Or it was exceedingly stupid. Take your pick. Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.”

“I just want you to know that whatever happens, I’m behind you. I believe Robert has the right idea in keeping things transparent and honest - “

“I couldn’t agree with you more,” May murmured as she spoke.

“ - but I want to see us all united. Together we’re strong. Apart …” she shook her head. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

“So let’s not. We will be united. They have to see that we need each other, once they look past their own egos.”

Bobbi raised her eyebrows and shook her head. “Men.”

~ ~ ~ 

May opened the door, not entirely sure what she expected to find. She hadn’t expected violence but given the way things had been going lately, you never knew. Thankfully the two men sat opposite one another, appearing calm, and hope sprung a faint root in her heart.

“So … “ she began.

“We’ve agreed to bury the hatchet and work together,” Gonzales said first.

Coulson followed up with, “What are your orders, director May?”

Was that a faint note of sarcasm in his voice? No, she didn’t think so, but then given their relationship lately, maybe she couldn’t read him as well as she’d thought she could.

“Firstly, you both need to know I did _not_ want to have to do this. Being in charge of Shield is the last thing I want, and as soon as I can safely relinquish command to the right person, I will. Secondly, there are no orders. We’re a team, all of us, and we work together. Coulson, I know something is up on your radar and I bet you already have a plan to deal with it. I want to hear it.” She sat at the head of the table and waited.

He leaned forward eagerly. “I have intel from one of my men in Hydra that they have a base in the arctic … “

~ ~ ~ 

As the quinjet pitched and heaved, Coulson’s stomach pitched and heaved right along with it. “Can’t you even it out, May?” he called to her.

“No. Hang on.”

“Lord,” he murmured, closing his eyes and holding his stomach.

Several painful moments later, the jet landed with a fairly harsh bump. Harsh by May’s standards anyway. “We were emulating debris,” she said after unstrapping herself and joining them in the hold. “I warned you it would be a rough ride.”

“Wish I hadn’t had that hot pocket before we left. It isn’t sitting well.” He met her eyes and smiled briefly, thankful that whatever was happening between them, she still felt confident enough to let him be in charge of the mission.

May did a thorough check to make sure they were all well-armed, as she always did before a mission, throwing a nasty sidelong glance at Ward as she did so.

 _Here we all are again, together, except for Skye,_ he thought, looking around at their serious faces. A sudden crackle made everyone jump but though he was quick with his sidearm, May already had hers cocked and pointed at Ward before he even had his in hand.

“It wasn’t me!” Ward protested, holding his arms up in the air.

“No, it was me.”

Coulson spun around to find Skye standing behind him, along with the man with no eyes. Seconds later, the air crackled again and he was gone.

“Skye!” Coulson rushed to her and threw his arms around her. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She clasped her arms around his neck and squeezed hard. “But they’ve got Lincoln and I need to rescue him. Raina foresaw it.”

“Lincoln?”  
“Who has him?”  
“Where have you been?”  
“You know where Raina is? She’s alive?”

Skye waved aside their questions. “There isn’t time now. We have to move if I’m going to save him.”

A million questions ran through his mind but Coulson refrained from asking them. _Later. ___“Okay, we’re going in in two teams - Skye you’re with Ward and Simmons on rescue detail. Along with your friend, they’ve got Mike Peterson. I want them both out. May and I will go with Fitz to the information centre of the base and gain as much intel as we can.”

“Shouldn’t May come with us for protection?” Simmons asked.

“You’ve got Ward. Each team has a specialist.”

“But … “

Coulson met her eyes and then looked directly at Ward. “I expect he’ll do as he says and protect you. If he doesn’t, shoot him.”

“Yes sir.”

He turned back to face all of them. “We’ve got three minutes before the others send in a bombing unit to destroy the base so there’s no time to lose.”

**~ TBC~**


	13. Chapter 13

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

“Where’s Coulson?”

Fitz shrugged, too intent on getting his part of the plan finished in time to care. May scanned the dark room, seeing a door in a corner. As expected, Coulson was behind it.

“What are you doing?” He didn’t answer. “Phil, we have to go,” she said insistently.

“Almost done.”

A noise alerted her to two more men in the other room, coming up behind Fitz. She shot them both quickly. “It’s time to go now or you’re next.”

“Fine.” He managed to sound both offended and amused as he answered her, pulling a thumb drive out of the computer and pocketing it. “After you.”

May managed to stay focused long enough to get everyone out - everyone except Ward, strangely - and confirm with Gonzales that they were ready to bring the strike team in, but in the back of her mind she was constantly replaying Coulson’s actions in the dark room and it was creating a thick, heavy knot of anxiety in the pit of her stomach.

He’d lied to her again. Or rather lied by omission: refusing to tell her what he was doing.

It made her sick. Worse, it left her not knowing who to trust or what to do, moving forward. _Well you’d better figure it out now that you’re the director. It’s your responsibility, it’s all on you now._ She shook her head and dismissed all thoughts of him from her mind, focusing on getting them home safely.

~ ~ ~ 

“Why didn’t Ward come back with us?” Fitz asked. “Not that I’m not happy he isn’t here, but - “

“He didn’t elaborate,” Simmons said flatly. “He just said he’d fulfilled his end and needed to go.”

“Strange.” Skye frowned.

“So tell us all about you,” Simmons gushed, happy to be changing the subject. “Where have you been these last days?”

“I wish I could tell you.” She smiled, seeing their disbelieving looks. “No really, I do, but I have no idea where I was. Gordon whisked me away and brought me back and never said where we were. Somewhere in the mountains, away from everything and everyone is all I know.”

“Gordon? Is he the guy with - “ Fitz lifted a hand to his eyes.

“No eyes? Yes. You get used to it after a while. It’s a little alarming at first but he’s very kind.”

Simmons was about to ask more questions but the ringing of Skye’s cellphone interrupted her.

“Oh, I have to get this. Excuse me.” Skye walked a few steps and turned away from them. “Hi Andrew.”

“Skye! Finally. I’ve been trying and trying to get through to you. I was worried after getting your message. Are you safe? Are you okay? Are they hurting you?”

“I’m fine, really. Things were a little crazy there and I didn’t know who to talk to, but it’s okay now. I’m with friends.”

“Where are you?”

“On a quinjet with Coulson and May, if I had to guess, somewhere over the Atlantic ocean.”

“You’re headed back to the base?”

“That’s what the boss says. We rescued a couple of people from a Hydra base in the arctic and Simmons needs to get them back to her lab to treat their injuries.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

She waved it away though obviously he couldn’t see the gesture. “It’s okay, I’m fine now. Thanks anyway.”

“I’d still like to talk to you in person, and I need to see Melinda.”

“Okay, well I can ask when we’re due to arrive - “

“No need. I’ll be waiting for you there. Just keep your eyes and ears open, Skye, and watch yourself.”

“What could go wrong? I’m among friends.”

Garner sat back after they broke the connection and sighed heavily. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

~ ~ ~ 

He knocked on his own office door, waiting for May’s entreaty to enter, wondering how fate had brought them to this twisted reality and how he could put it right. One small decision to keep something from her and it had snowballed into this.

“Come in.”

She made him wait several minutes, not even looking up as he stood before her. Was this how he’d treated her? Coulson had to think - remembering that yes, there had been occasions he’d been brusque to the point of rudeness and treated her like an underling instead of an equal. _If we manage to get back to where we were I’ll never do it again,_ he promised himself.

“May?” he began tentatively. 

She finally looked up. “I want to see what’s in that toolbox.”

“May - “

“It’s time to stop keeping secrets. Open the box.”

“Those secrets are for the Director’s eyes only.”

“My eyes now. Open the box Phil, or I’ll be forced to take extreme measures to open it myself. It’s time to let the truth out into the light of day.”

His face was grim. “Are you sure that’s what you want? Once the box is opened and the secrets are out, there’s no going back.”

May’s eyebrows drew together in a frown. “Is what’s in there really so bad? I remember a time you were willing to trust me with anything. Good or bad. You were prepared to let me in on the Avengers initiative, do you remember? If Bahrain would have ended differently I’d have been on that helicarrier with you.”

“But it didn’t,” he said softly, “and you effectively quit Shield, for all intents and purposes. I couldn’t share any of those secrets with you once you decided to leave the field.”

“I’m back now. Haven’t I proven that to you in the last two years?” Her heart pounded painfully in her chest.

Coulson shook his head. “I’m sorry May. I just can’t.”

She stood, face hard as flint. “Then I guess we’re done.” It took all her will not to crack. “Let’s go.”

~ ~ ~ 

Skye dazzled him with a huge smile when she entered the room. “You really didn’t have to come you know. I’m okay.”

Garner returned the smile. “I can see that and I’m glad. But Shield is sick and maybe I can help fix it.”

She closed the distance between them and hugged him impulsively. “You’re a good man, you know that? How did you ever end up with someone like May?”

He chuckled softly. “She used to be a lot more like you when I first knew her. She could be tough as nails but she had a sweet, impulsive, caring side as well.” The smile faded. “She never told me exactly what happened in Bahrain but whatever it was, it beat that out of her for good and only left the hard shell behind. I wish I could have helped her come back but I couldn’t get through to her. I don’t know what’s really going on here now - not all the details anyway - but if she needs my help again I’d like to try to be there for her.”

Skye thought about what Jiaying had told her, realizing with some surprise that May had never revealed the whole truth of what she’d experienced in Bahrain. Not even to her husband. _That’s a tough burden she’s carried all these years,_ she thought. _No wonder she’s so dark and distant._ “I repeat, you’re a good man.” She smiled at Garner. “I don’t know what’s going on either since I just got here but the vibe I’m getting from everyone isn’t good. I feel like something’s terribly horribly wrong but I don’t know what it is so I can’t fix it.”

“Hopefully together we can figure it out. In the meanwhile and speaking of fixing … how are things going with your gift? Are you becoming more comfortable with it? Learning how to use it safely?”

“Yes,” she said eagerly. “I was with people like me - people with powers, and they were helping me learn about myself and learn how to control it. It was amazing.”

“Tell me about these people.”

She did, in detail. “They said the place was called ‘Afterlife’. I suppose it’s named that way because it’s for life after the change. It’s somewhere safe where we can just be ourselves and not be afraid people will hurt us because we’re different.”

“Where is it exactly?”

“I don’t know.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.” She frowned. “We just sort of zapped there and back. There weren’t any street signs or directions.”

“Think about the place and describe it for me.”

She stood up. “It’s been nice chatting but I have to go see how my friend Lincoln is doing. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Wait, Skye. Before you go, where can I find Melinda?” He shrugged. “This place is like a rabbit warren and I don’t want to be hunting her down for hours before I find her.”

“I think she’s in Coulson’s office. When in doubt look there or the gym. She’s usually in one of those two places.”

~ ~ ~ 

“I’m happy the mission was a success.”

Bobbi gaze Gonzales a sideways look. “I didn’t realize you cared so much for them. Powered people, I mean.”

“I care to have them in our custody. It’s always better to have weapons in your hands than in your enemy’s. This way we can learn about them, figure out how to use them.”

“Use them,” she repeated, a sickening sensation beginning to churn in her gut. “So that was your plan all along. Let Coulson take his team in and get the powered people out, at no risk to you.”

“A win-win situation. Both of us got what we wanted.”

“But you had an ulterior motive in this. One you didn’t share with us.”

“If you think Coulson didn’t, think again.”

_You’re just the same. Both with your own agendas, hiding things from your own people._ Her heart sank. _Who can I trust now?_ “I think we need to talk - “

Coulson walked around the corner and almost right into them. “Talk about what?” His phone began to ring. “Sorry, I have to take this. It’s Agent Hill. She has news about Fury. Oh, sorry. Spoiler alert : he’s still alive.” He walked away smiling, taking the call out of their earshot.

Gonzales faced Bobbi. “See? There are always more secrets.”

~ ~ ~ 

He found her in Coulson’s office as Skye had said. She was sitting in the boss’s chair staring out the window and didn’t notice him come in. He waited a moment, observing her profile, before announcing his presence. She looked tired. Worn out. The lines between her eyebrows were deeply furrowed and the look in her eyes was one of misery.

It broke his heart to see her like this. Again. 

“Melinda.”

She spun around to face him. “Andrew. I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Skye said I’d find you here, that you spend a lot of time in Coulson’s office.”

“I’ll be spending more of it here as it’s my office now.”

He frowned. “Come again?”

“You’re looking at the new director of Shield. I relieved Coulson of his position.”

“You can do that?”

“Fury gave me clearance level above his and special permission to relieve him if I thought he’d been compromised and was no longer capable of leading.”

“Wow.” He sat heavily. “That’s something. What happened?”

“He was keeping secrets from us. Lying to us about what he was doing - some big project he was working on that has set opposing Shield factions against us. Shield is effectively caught in a civil war right now, though we seem to have negotiated a fragile truce for the moment. I took charge to prevent all hell from breaking loose.”

“That sounds pretty stressful.”

“It is. It isn’t easy hearing your closest friend and supposed ally doesn’t trust you with secrets important enough to kill for.”

“I can only imagine.”

Her voice, already dry, grew icy. “And it’s even tougher finding out said friend has been working with your ex behind your back and neither of them told you a thing about it.”

“It’s not what you think, Mel. He came to me for counselling. We kept it private out of doctor/patient confidentiality.”

“That’s a good cover story but we both know it’s bullshit, like everything else Coulson has been feeding us this last year.” Her knuckles grew white. “I knew all about Phil’s condition, his alien carving impulses - hell, I’m the one who documented everything he did and was tasked with watching him to make sure he didn’t crack up because of it. Why hide his counselling time with you from me? Why even need it when he spent time talking to me about it? No, he inadvertently told me the truth when he said you were the psychologist he would call first for dealing with enhanced people. He did, didn’t he, when he began putting together this new base for training powered people.”

Their eyes met, hers flinty and hard, his sad. 

“He swore me to secrecy, Melinda. I wanted to tell you. I didn’t think he should be keeping it from you, of all people.”

May drew in a long breath and let it out, leaning her elbows on the desk. “Tell me now. As the director of Shield, I order you to tell me everything you know.”

**~ TBC ~**


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's getting pretty exciting - season finale this week! Can't wait to see where they go with it ... I have a few ideas but I'm not really sure which direction they're going to take. I'm worried for Coulson and May; I fear they're going to end up on opposite sides of this conflict and that's something I don't want to see happen. Time will tell ... 
> 
> The usual note about spoilers applies, though if you've read this far you already know the drill. Enjoy and feel free to leave comments - I'm always happy to hear from you!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

“So Theta Protocol was a _helicarrier?_ ” Bobbi’s voice held the incredulity of the entire group. “That’s it?”

“That’s it.” Coulson shrugged and looked around the table. “It’s an amazing tool for us and Fury wanted to build a new one in secret after the first one was destroyed. It was a need-to-know project and very few people needed to know.”

“You’re not making a base for training powered people?” Gonzales asked.

“ ‘Fraid not. Firstly, we don’t have any of them, and secondly, this base would do just fine for that. Why build a new one when we could keep them close by?”

“We have Skye and her friend.”

“You’re not going to force them to stay, are you?” Bobbi’s tone was beginning to get aggressive.

May, at the other end of the table, suddenly spoke up. “No one’s forcing anyone to do anything, Agent Morse. If you’re done - “ She met Coulson’s eyes and he nodded. “ - then it’s time to move on to other matters. Uniting Shield. I propose we unite our two groups and share leadership: for now I’ll remain the director and your board will advise me and vote on all decisions we make.”

Bobbi nodded. “Sounds fair.”

On the video screen, Gonzales’ two agents back on the boat both nodded.

“However I have one request.”

Gonzales met her gaze. “And that is?”

“I want Coulson to sit on the board. In order to make it fair and less ‘us against them’ there needs to be more representation from our group.”

“Done.”

As they all filed out, she met Coulson’s eyes. “The office. Bring Skye. We need to talk.” He nodded and continued out. 

Gonzales lingered behind after everyone else left. “Are you sure it’s wise to trust Coulson?” 

“I always have. I know he has his secrets, as we all do. I trust that he’s a good man and does things for the right reasons even if he doesn’t share those reasons with us. However, I won’t let him act alone without our knowledge again, and as director I take full responsibility for anything he might do.”

He held out his hand. She took it and they shook. “It’s a pleasure working with you, Director.”

~ ~ ~ 

Coulson and Skye were already there when she arrived. “How is your friend doing?” May asked, closing the door behind her and joining them.

“Good. I think he’s nearly ready to go home.”

May stole a look at Coulson. “Are you going home with him?” he asked.

“Yes. At least for now. I’m still training, learning how to use my power without hurting anyone, including myself.”

“Who’s training you?” May asked.

“The leader there, Jiaying.”

“Are you going to come back after you’re done training?” May could read the conflicting emotions on Skye’s face clear as day. She knew Coulson could too.

“I don’t know yet.”

“You’re still a Shield agent,” he said softly, “if that’s what you want to be.”

“I do,” she said positively, nodding, “but these are my people. My family.”

“We’re your family too, Skye.”

The girl smiled sadly at him. “I know, but they’re my _real_ family. Jiaying is my mother.”

May felt like the breath had been knocked clean out of her. After the surprise came wariness. She met Coulson’s eyes and in them she could see he was thinking the same thing she was: the family connection was a dangerous complication that meant they’d have to tread very carefully.

“Wow, that’s great. I know you’ve spent your whole life searching for your family, trying to learn who you really are. Must be very rewarding to know you’ve finally found those answers. What’s she like, your mother?” he asked.

“She’s really amazing. Kind, gentle, wise, and she told me stories of when I was born and a baby … “ Skye smiled self-consciously.

“I’d like to meet her.”

“I don’t know about that. She’s pretty firm on the notion that humans and Inhumans don’t mix.”

“Inhumans? Is that what they’re called?”

Skye turned to face May. “Yes. My people are called Inhumans - a name they apparently gave themselves generations ago.”

“Well regardless of whether or not they want to stay isolated, your people are turning up and being noticed. Hydra was tracking the teleporter and it’s only a matter of time before they figure out how to follow him back home.”

“I’d be willing to bet Shield is trying to track him too,” Skye muttered.

Coulson and May looked at one another. “We’re not,” he said, “but Gonzales and his people probably are.”

“They’re our people now too,” May corrected under her breath.

Coulson acknowledged her comment with a nod. “It would be good for us to reach out and get to know the Inhumans. Show them we mean no harm and that we’re here to help if Hydra attacks them.”

“Well … “ Skye didn’t seem convinced. “I’ll talk to Jiaying and let her know your intentions but she makes the rules and she might not want to see you.”

“You can be very persuasive when you want to,” May prompted. “You’re her daughter, she’ll listen to you.”

Skye’s brow furrowed. “Are you on his side? You want to be friends with them? I would think after what happened in Bahrain, Inhumans would be first on your hit list.” Coulson frowned. “You didn’t know? The little girl May killed was one of us.”

May heard the sharp intake of his breath as the information sank in, and felt like her heart was being ripped apart again. Her blood froze and the world began to grey around her. “How do you know about that?” she asked, voice harsh and pinched.

“Jiaying told me. She was there. The girl wasn’t supposed to go through the change. She was evil and Jiaying wouldn't allow it but her mother did it in secret anyway. They were there to stop her but you got there first and did the job for them.”

She felt as though she couldn’t breath. She was choking, drowning in the memories, the pain, and it was suffocating her. “I … I … “ She fled the room, unable to say more.

Skye turned to Coulson reading his face correctly. “She never told you.” It was almost a question.

He shook his head. “You didn’t see her afterwards. I did. It completely broke her. Destroyed her soul. Now I know why.” His chest squeezed painfully. “I have to go talk to her. Skye, can you get Lincoln indexed before you go back? Get Simmons to help you.”

She nodded. “I hope she’s okay,” she murmured.

“So do I.”

~ ~ ~ 

He found her as he’d expected, in the hangar. Flying was like breathing to her and she felt more comfortable with aircraft than people most of the time. She stood at the far end, staring at one of the jets sightlessly. She was silent for a long while after he came up to stand beside her. “I miss my plane,” she said eventually.

He knew she did. If it hadn’t been destroyed, he knew he likely would have found her in the cockpit - her sanctuary. “Me too.” Coulson cleared his throat. “I’m so sorry May - “

She whipped around, looking almost angry with him. “No. Dont. I’m the one who kept the truth from you, lied to you and everyone else about what happened.”

“It doesn’t matter what really happened in Bahrain.”

“Yes it does! I’ve been angry with you for not telling me the truth about what you’ve been doing this past year and yet for years I’ve kept a huge secret from you, one I should have told you.”

“It doesn’t matter now. I understand.”

“No, you really don’t. You and I have let each other get away with too much because we’ve allowed the boundaries that once kept our relationship well-defined blur to the point where we don’t even know where the line is, or if we’ve overstepped it.”

“We’ve never allowed each other to cross it.”

“Yes we have,” she said sadly. “Skye is living proof of that. You should never have used that serum to save her. You and Fury should never have been experimenting with it in the first place, playing God, but after being shown to be dangerous you never should have used it again.”

“Are you saying we should have just let Skye die?” Coulson said harshly.

“Yes.” Tears shimmered in her eyes. “She was at the end of her life and there was nothing humanly possible we could have done to save her. We should have just let her go and not messed with things we don’t fully understand. I should have stopped you before you crossed that line but I cared for you too much to let you suffer with losing her.”

“You think we’d be better off without her?” The incredulity in his voice tore at her heart.

“Maybe.” She swallowed hard. “I care for her too, Phil, maybe too much just like you, but she’s one of them and they can be extremely dangerous. No one knows that better than I do. I fear the pull she’s feeling between us and them is going to strain our relationship to breaking point, and us forcing ourselves on them is going to rain hell down on us one day.”

Coulson took a deep breath, ready to defend his actions but Bobbi burst into the hangar at the moment and spoke before he could catch his breath. “Gonzales has new and crucial information that we need to see. He’s demanding we all meet now to talk about it.” She looked back and forth between them, noting the anger and misery on their faces. “I’ll tell him you’re on your way.”

He met May’s eyes after Bobbi left them, holding steady for a long minute. “May - “ he began.

She bit her lip and began to walk. “We have to go.”

~ ~ ~ 

Gonzales had a triumphant look on his face when they arrived and it worried May.

“We found them.”

“Who?”

“The powered people. I’ve had my people working on tracking the teleporter and they’ve cracked it and found his location.”

Her stomach sank.

“We should send in a strike force quickly while we still have the element of surprise.”

“Wait,” Coulson said. “Hold up a minute. A strike force?”

Gonzales nodded. “They’re dangerous. We need to strike first before they decide to come after us.”

“They’ve been around a thousand years,” May put in quietly from across the room. “If they wanted to attack us, don’t you think they’d have done it by now?”

“May’s right,” Bobbi affirmed. “We don’t know that they’re all dangerous and we can’t assume they are before we even talk to them.”

“I think we should go in peace and offer to talk,” Coulson offered. “Get to know them, maybe even become allies. Why fight a war we can avoid by simple communication?”

“Coulson’s right,” May said. “Some of them may be dangerous but not all of them are. Skye isn’t. She’s not a killer and would only use her ability to protect people, not hurt them.” She stole a quick look at Coulson. “We should try to find a way to co-exist peacefully with them if we can before resorting to force. That’s not what Shield is about.”

“Okay, we’ll do it your way. How do you propose to make it work?”

Coulson stepped forward. “I’ll go with a small team, no show of force, and meet with them alone so none of our people are in danger.”

“Do you really think that’s wise?” Agent Weaver asked. “Given your close relationship with Skye I’d think you might not be able to be objective.”

“I agree.” Gonzales rubbed the handle of his walking stick. “I don’t think Coulson should be the one making contact. It’s too dangerous.”

The room fell silent.

“You’re awfully quiet, May,” Coulson finally said. “Your thoughts?”

She drew her lips together in a thin line. “Gonzales should go.” She could see the disappointment in his eyes but couldn’t tell if it was because he was genuinely hoping to go meet Jiaying or because he’d hoped she’d back him. “You and I are both too close to this.”

Gonzales’s team nodded their approval.

“I’d like you to stay back and quarterback the mission from here. I’ll take them in but remain with the plane, only to step in if there’s trouble.”

“Agreed.” Gonzales stood. “We leave in thirty minutes.”

~ TBC ~


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this is it folks ... season finale tomorrow! Spoilers for everything that's aired to date, though my story and the actual series are somewhat different. We'll see come tomorrow if what I'm envisioning for the showdown will come true.
> 
> In the meanwhile, enjoy the chapter!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hunter rapped on the door and when he got no response, pushed it open. “Mack?”

The tall man turned to face him. “Oh hey, Hunter.”

“What are you doing?” Hunter eyed the duffel bag on the bed.

Mack sighed deeply. “I’m leaving.”

“Leaving? Why?”

“Haven’t you been paying attention, man? Shield has gone to hell in a hand-basket. I don’t know which way is up anymore and frankly I’m done with all things alien.”

“Well no one can blame you there, mate. We’ve seen some pretty weird stuff.”

“Some of us have done more than just see.”

“I know.” They fell silent as Mack continued to pack. “So you’re resigning then?”

“Yep.”

“Where will you go?”

“I dunno yet. One step at a time.” He smiled sadly. “I’d like to keep in touch, if there are no hard feelings.”

“No hard feelings.” Hunter extended his hand and the two men shook. “However, the next time I see you, you’ll owe me a pint or several.”

“It’s a deal.”

“I’m going to miss you, mate.”

“Yeah, me too.”

~ ~ ~ 

“Shots fired,” May said, clicking her earpiece as her stomach suddenly leapt up into her throat. She drew her gun and advanced on the buildings. “Skye, what happened?” she demanded as she encountered the girl first.

“I don’t know.” Skye looked terrified.

“He shot me!” Jiaying cried out as she stumbled around the corner. “He shot me!” She collapsed to the ground, blood flowing from her shoulder. Skye ran to her but though her lips were moving May couldn’t hear what she said as Coulson’s voice was insistent in her ear.

“What the hell is going on, May?”

“Hell if I know. I’m going in. Hold the men back until I have some answers. Let’s try to avoid an all-out war if we can.” She walked over to where Skye cradled her mother’s head in her lap. “What happened?”

She raised her eyes slowly. “You said you were coming in peace, that you meant no harm.”

“We didn’t,” May argued. “No one should have gotten hurt. What went wrong?”

Skye’s eyes grew dark in a way may knew all too well and it sent chills down her spine. “You lied to me. You kept Coulson back because you knew _he’d_ keep the peace. You wanted revenge for what the Inhumans did to you and you knew Gonzales would do your dirty work for you if you sent him instead. Medic!” she shouted, “We need a medic!”

From amongst the crowd that had formed, an older woman stepped forward. “Get her into a treatment room.” Hands lifted Jiaying’s limp body and carried her away.

“Let’s just calm down and go see if we can figure out what happened,” May said, swallowing her defensive anger at the accusation and hoping Skye was just speaking out of worry for her mother. “The sooner we have answers the sooner we can figure out how to deal with this situation.”

“Answers? We don’t need answers, we already know what happened. Gonzales tried to kill her. You came here to kill us because we pose a threat to you.”

“That’s not true.” May began to walk towards the buildings. “Let me talk to Gonzales and we’ll get to the bottom of this and find out what really happened.”

“No!” Skye stepped in front of May, stopping her. They faced each other, merely feet apart.

“You would keep the truth hidden? I can’t let you do that.” May stepped around her and kept walking.

“Stop! You can’t go in there. This is our home and you’re not welcome here.”

“If you want to stop me you’re going to have to use force.”

“You think I won’t?”

May searched her eyes. “No, I don’t believe you will.” She continued walking, feeling the prickle down her spine as she kept her back to the girl. A sudden jolt, akin to being electrocuted, shocked her and she fell to the ground motionless as consciousness slipped away.

~ ~ ~ 

The earbud crackled and died, leaving only a dull hum behind. “May, May! What’s going on? Are you there? Are you okay? Talk to me!” Coulson swore, changing the channel to connect with someone else. “Agent Johnston, are you there?”

“Yes sir. I’ve lost contact with the Director and with Commander Gonzales. What should we do?”

“The op’s gone south and I’ve no idea if they’re okay. Take your team in and find them. Use force only if necessary.”

“Yes sir.” He motioned to the two others to join him, and the three of them headed over the hill towards the compound.

~ ~ ~ 

“What’s going on?” Bobbi asked, arriving at Coulson’s office, Hunter on her heels.

“I don’t know. All May said was shots were fired, then her comm line went down.”

“Gonzales?”

“No idea. He wanted to go in dark so they wouldn’t find his comm and assume he was reporting back to someone.”

“Oh my god.” Bobbi covered her mouth with both hands.

“What?” Hunter demanded.

Coulson studied her narrowly. “What are you not telling us? Bobbi please, we need to know. We have agents potentially in danger out there. Agent May is there.”

_You mean Director May_ , Hunter thought wryly, deciding this wasn’t the best time to bring it up.

“Gonzales has a bit of a thing about powered people.”

“A thing? What kind of a thing?”

“He thinks they’re dangerous.”

“We all agree they certainly can be,” Coulson said. “That isn’t news.”

“He’s always wanted to capture some of them and do experiments to find out how they got their powers.”

The colour drained from Coulson’s face. 

“Bloody hell,” Hunter spat. “He’s no different than Hydra then.”

“You should have told us this before.”

“I thought … I thought maybe he’d mellow and do it your way.”

“ A leopard can’t change its spots,” Hunter muttered.

“Here’s what we’re going to do. You two take a team and a quinjet and get to those coordinates as fast as you can.”

Hunter nodded. “May’s going to need backup.”

Coulson looked over at him and there was such a sadness in his eyes it made Hunter’s chest ache. “I’m not sure she isn’t backing Gonzales on this one.”

“Sir?”

Bobbi shook her head. “No way. She wouldn’t turn on Skye. Not May.”

“I thought I knew her better than anyone but right now I’m not sure where she stands or what her loyalties are. I may not be the director anymore but I can’t stand by and watch them pull us into a war with the Inhumans without doing something to stop it.”

“I’m going with you.” No one had seen Garner standing in the doorway, listening to their conversation.

“Andrew - “

“Don’t even try it,” Garner warned. “None of that ‘it’s classified’ bullshit. If Skye is in the middle of this and Melinda is her adversary, she’ll need me to help keep her calm. She could literally start an earthquake if she loses control and then we’ll have lost all of our people as well as all of the others. Many innocents as well.”

“Fine. Go with Hunter and Bobbi. Get moving.”

~ ~ ~ 

May came to slowly, head fuzzy from the smack on the ground she’d sustained when she’d been hit. _When I was electrocuted?_ she mused, then seeing the walls of the building she was being held in, she remembered. _Inhumans._ She knew at least one of them had the power to bend electricity to his will.

She rolled her neck a couple of times and sat up as straight as she was able, noticing Lincoln across the room. “You were the one who zapped me.” It wasn’t quite a question.

He nodded. “Skye wouldn’t have hurt you.”

“I know. We wouldn’t have hurt you either. That’s not why we came.”

“Jiaying has two bullet holes in her shoulder that prove otherwise.”

May shook her head. “Whatever happened wasn’t as simple as what she says. We didn’t come here to harm you. Why would Gonzales have shot her? Was there an argument?”

“Jiaying is Skye’s birth mother. I saw the way Skye looked at you back at your base, saw the bond you share; maybe you came here to get your competition out of the way so you could keep her for yourself.”

“And maybe you’re crazy.”

“Maybe I am, but I’ve been here a lot longer than I’ve known you and I trust Jiaying’s word over yours.”

“I wouldn’t expect otherwise Lincoln, but can you please convince Skye to be fair? We need to talk to Gonzales and piece together exactly what happened and why. If Gonzales did open fire on her without cause, you can bet his punishment will be harsh. I’ll kill him myself if need be.”

Lincoln stood. “No need. He’s already dead.”

“What? Your people killed him?”

“No. When we went to Jiaying’s office to detain him, we found he’d been turned to stone.” There was a nasty edge to his smile. “Guess he wasn’t one of us. “

~ ~ ~ 

“See? I told you what would happen if you let Jiaying meet with them. But no, you had to assume I was a lying, power-hungry bitch and now look what you’ve done.”

Gordon dropped his head in shame. “I should have believed you, believed in your vision. Your gift wouldn’t lie.”

“You can make up for it now,” Raina soothed. “Take me to the prisoner.”

“I don’t know if that’s wise.”

“I’ll take responsibility for what’s happening here while Jiaying’s indisposed. I know the enemy you’re facing better than anyone else here. I’ve had dealings with them before.”

“Very well.”

They were silent on the walk over, both acutely aware of the heightened tension in the community. Gordon couldn’t see the tight, worried faces and anxious eyes but she knew he could feel his people’s disquiet.

She was shocked upon entering the room. “Agent May,” she burst out. “Where’s Agent Coulson?”

“He didn’t come along for the ride. Who are you?”

“I’m hurt you don’t recognize me. My voice at least.”

“Raina.”

“I know I look a lot different than when you last saw me - “

“You could say that,” May muttered under her breath.

“ - but you have to understand the gods had a purpose when they sent me and Skye through the mist together. She got all of the beauty and brawn and I got the brains. And the quills.” She laughed harshly. 

“Well one thing hasn’t changed. You’re still crazy.” May looked over at Lincoln. “You people actually believe her lies? She helped Cal do horrible experiments on people like you to see what makes you tick. She’s murdered countless people and you’re letting her walk free among you and telling you what to do? You don’t know how dangerous she really is.”

“I believe you’re the one who’s dangerous,” Gordon said. “Everything’s she’s predicted so far has come true, including an attack by Shield.”

“Oh, she’s making predictions now, is she? Come on Raina, tell me what happens to me.”

“You die.” She said the words with venom, yellow eyes flashing hatred.

“We all die at some point.”

“Not all of us.”

“You mean Coulson?”

“Yes, but he’s not the only one. Speaking of Coulson - ” she turned to Gordon. “Take me to him.”

“I don’t think I’m able to do that.”

“Yes you can,” she insisted. “He has Kree blood in him; you’ll be able to feel him. Now take me there.”

May’s heart sank. “Raina, please don’t do this.”

Yellow eyes swivelled back to bore into her. “I owe him, Agent May, and I never leave a debt unpaid.”

A single tear hovered and slowly slid down May’s cheek as the two disappeared with a crack. She began to work discreetly at the bonds that held her wrists to the chair. She had to find a way to stop this from happening.

~ ~ ~ 

He was in the lab looking for Simmons when a sharp crack hurt his ears and two people appeared out of nowhere. The man with no eyes he recognized; the other was not so familiar. However she stepped forward and addressed him.

“Agent Coulson. So nice to see you again.”

He’d have known that oily voice anywhere. Whatever else had changed, that had stayed the same. “I wish I could say the same, Raina.”

“I know I’m not as beautiful as I used to be, but it’s considered impolite to insult someone’s appearance.”

“I wasn’t referring to your appearance, merely to your presence. Death and destruction seem to follow everywhere you go and trust me, we’ve had enough of that here lately.”

“It’s my curse.” She laughed. “Or is it a gift?” Swiftly and without warning, she grabbed an icer off the table beside her and shot the man beside her. “That’s better, now we can talk without interference.”

“Where’s May? Is she okay?”

“For the moment. I doubt that’ll last long though. Jiaying isn’t as tolerant as I am, and she’ll want someone to answer for what your man did. Oh, he’s dead by the way, went the same way as your friend Tripp, from what I hear.”

“He touched a Diviner?”

“Or the crystals they made from them. She told me all about the lore of our people and I must say, it’s fascinating.”

Coulson’s jaw tightened. “Take me there now. I need to speak with her and secure May’s freedom. She didn’t do anything.”

“That won’t matter. Jiaying decides everything and her people obey her like sheep. If she decides May has to die, someone will carry out the sentence for her.”

“Take me there,” he demanded, eyes steely.

“How can I?” She gestured at her sidekick, still out cold on the floor. “Besides, when he wakes up he’ll realize I’m not on his side and refuse any request I make.”

Coulson pulled a gun from where it had been concealed behind his suit jacket. “Wake him up and get him to take me there or I will use this on you. It’s a real gun, not just a stunner like that one.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“You want to test that?” he growled, jaw set. 

They stared at one another in silence for a long, tense minute, then Raina gave the man on the floor a couple of kicks and he began to stir.

**~ TBC ~**


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little shorter than the previous ones, but as it's my "season finale" I wanted to get it posted today. I don't know if any of it will mirror what actually happens on the show, but hopefully you'll enjoy my somewhat AU version of the story nonetheless.
> 
> Spoilers for any and all episodes aired so far, as you well know. Also, I don't own any of it - not the characters, the ideas, the story or the dialogue, I'm just having fun playing in Marvel's sandbox. Lots of fun. :D
> 
> Enjoy and enjoy tonight's finale. Here's hoping we don't all have our hearts broken ~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Garner nodded towards Bobbi, in the cockpit. “She’s a good pilot. Reminds me of Melinda.”

Hunter rolled his eyes. “Yeah, they’re peas in a pod, those two.”

“You know her well?”

“You could say that. She’s my ex-wife.”

“Welcome to the club.”

“I’ll only join if we’re allowed to drink. No beer, no way.”

Garner smiled. “You’re kidding right?”

Hunter returned it. “I like you. Try not to get yourself killed out there.” He reached under the seat and pulled out a couple of kevlar vests. “You might need this.”

Garner took and nodded thanks. “Here’s hoping. Given the nature of some of these folks, it might be completely useless against whatever they throw our way.”

“Always the positive one, aren’t you?”

Garner smiled again. “I prefer to be realistic. If there’s one thing I”ve learned from Shield it’s that you can never truly expect what’s coming and it’s best to be as prepared as you can. Never underestimate the enemy and never turn your back on them.”

“I’d drink to that if only I had a cold one.”

“How ‘bout a raincheck for after this is over?”

“You’re on.”

~ ~ ~ 

Gordon came back to consciousness slowly, but once it hit he sprang to his feet and faced unerringly in Raina’s direction. “You betrayed me. I trusted you and you used me.”

“That was your first mistake,” Coulson said dryly. “Trusting her. I’ve got her under control now.”

“Have you?” she murmured.

He slid his eyes her way. “Don’t push me. I’ve killed for less.”

“Are you going to keep her your prisoner or let me take her back to face justice with my people?”

“Trust me, she’s done plenty to earn retribution here but I’m willing to let you take her if you take me with you. I need to speak with Jiaying and sort everything out before it escalates into all-out war.”

“It may be too late for that.”

“Maybe,” Coulson admitted, “but I have to at least try. We have no desire to hurt your people and I need to find a way to make them understand that.”

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?”

“Skye is one of you but she’s also one of us. She’s part of our family. We love and respect her, regardless of the change she went through. She trusted us enough to bring Lincoln here to be healed, knowing we would let them both go back unharmed. Please, let me help.”

Gordon regarded him thoughtfully. “My name is Gordon.”

“Phil.” Coulson held out his hand and they shook. “Please Gordon, take me to Skye.”

~ ~ ~ 

Jiaying walked from the treatment building to the room the prisoner was being held in. Her shoulder still hurt but the pain was mostly due to the accelerated healing process her body was undergoing. She remembered how much healing from Whitehall’s savagery had hurt, making her wish she could have died instead. This was merely a drop in the bucket in comparison. Her people watched in amazement; most of them were unaware of her particular gift and from their faces she judged they were considering it a miracle that she was okay.

Lincoln walked across the room to stand with the prisoner when she entered. “You’re alive,” he said wonderingly.

“Yes I am, thankfully.” She turned her eyes to May. “You’re Shield.”

“Yes.”

“I remember you. From Bahrain. Agent May. Skye and I were just talking of you recently.”

“So I heard,” May said dryly. “Thanks for telling her the story of my life.”

“I gathered from her words that you two are close. You didn’t tell her yourself?”

“Killing a child isn’t exactly something I’m proud of.”

Jiaying shook her head. “Katya was evil. I sensed it early and refused the change but her mother wouldn’t listen to me.”

“Mothers rarely do when it comes to their children’s welfare.”

“Do you have children, Agent May?”

“No.”

“Then you’re hardly qualified to speak on the subject.”

“I have a mother. And I have eyes.” She felt the bonds suddenly come loose and knew she was free, she just had to choose the right moment to act. “We need to talk about what happened here today. Our Agent Gonzales was turned to stone according to Lincoln, and you were shot.”

“Twice in fact.”

“In the shoulder I’m guessing. What happened? We just came to talk. Didn’t Skye tell you we meant no harm?”

“She did but I’ve dealt with Shield before and it’s never as crystal clear as it appears to be.” Her face hardened. “Your man came here preaching words of peace then pulled a gun and shot me.”

“I can’t believe he would do that.”

“Are you calling me a liar? I can show you the bullet holes.”

Just then Skye walked in. Using the distraction, May leapt out of her chair and took Lincoln down, pinching the blood vessels in his neck to force him into unconsciousness before he could zap her again.

“You mean to hurt us as well,” Jiaying said in a carefully controlled voice.

“No, I just won’t be a prisoner. We need to talk this out and figure out the truth of what happened.”

“The truth? The truth is that you humans fear us and every generation of you tries to eradicate us but we will not be wiped out.”

May held up her hands in surrender. “I’m not here to hurt anyone.”

“It’s too late, the damage has been done already. You found us. I can’t let you go back, knowing our location.”

May heard the almost imperceptible hum of a jet landing, hoping neither Jiaying nor Skye would have noticed it or known what it was. Hopefully help was on the way … 

“What have you done with the rest of my people?” May demanded.

“The same thing I’m going to do to you.” She touched Skye’s shoulder. “You’ve been a part of Shield. You know what they’re capable of. They’ll never rest until they kill us all. Take care of this one for me.”

Skye stood as if turned to stone and May could read the conflicting emotions in her eyes. “Skye please, don’t do this. We don’t want to hurt you or anyone else. Even if Gonzales did attack, he was acting alone. We don’t want a war.”

Footsteps grew louder and three people burst into the room, two of them armed. May’s heart flip-flopped. What was Andrew doing with them?

“Okay, that’s enough everyone, just stand down and no one will get hurt,” Bobbi soothed. 

“Don’t listen to them,” Jiaying hissed. “They’re not your people. They’re not your family.”

Skye raised her hand and pointed it at May.

“Skye, listen to me,” Garner said. “You care for Melinda. You don’t want to hurt her. Just take a few deep breaths and we’ll talk this out.” She didn’t flinch and he was surprised at her control. She’d obviously been practicing, learning how to harness her power so it didn’t deflect everywhere. It terrified him, knowing how close she was to killing May.

“They’re here to kill us or worse, take us prisoner and dissect us.” Skye’s voice was low and charged with hatred.

“Melinda would never hurt you.”

“She killed Eva and Katya.”

“She knows you Skye. She knows you’re a good person. She loves you. She would never hurt you.”

“No. She won’t.” She raised her arm higher and at that moment Gordon, Raina and Coulson appeared in the room.

Coulson’s face twisted painfully as he saw the tableau in front of him. Skye began to channel her power and the room began to vibrate. “Skye no!” he yelled.

As Skye’s face turned from blankness to anger, Garner leapt forward, jumping between her and May to protect the woman he still loved. The full force hit him and threw him backwards into her, pushing both of them back several feet into the wall behind. 

“No!” Coulson ran for May as Bobbi and Hunter grabbed Skye roughly and wrestled her to the ground. “May, are you okay?”

She shook her head, trying to keep from passing out as the edges of her world greyed. “I’m okay,” she breathed, doing an internal check and realizing she was just winded; nothing was broken. “Drew?”

Coulson felt for a pulse, his face going white. “Nothing.”

“Drew, Drew please, be okay.” She wriggled so his head was cradled in her lap. “Drew!” she said more insistently, rubbing his face. “Please be okay.” 

She met Coulson’s eyes. He shook his head. “He’s gone, Melinda,” he whispered.

“No, no, no,” she whimpered, then the tears came and she laid her head down on his chest, held him close against her and wept.

Coulson’s first impulse was to take them both in his arms and hold them tightly but the war had begun and he couldn’t afford the luxury of indulging in feelings now. He sprang to his feet and pulled out the gun, pointing it at Jiaying.

“What are you going to do?” she mocked. “Shoot me? I can’t die; Shield tried years ago and Whitehall did his level best to leave me in pieces yet here I am.” She spread her arms. “You will be long dead and gone and your children’s children will be barely a memory and I’ll still be here watching over my people and making sure people like you don’t harm us.” 

As she pulled a folded cloth from inside her cloak, Raina threw her head back as if in a trance. “No, you can’t kill him! He’s mine to kill!” she yelled. “Don’t use the crystal!”

Gordon acted then, putting one hand on Raina’s shoulder and the other on Jiaying’s and whisking them away in the blink of an eye, returning moments later. “They’re far away. You’re safe now.”

Skye’s arm slowly dropped and the colour drained from her face. “Oh my god, what have I done?” Her eyes focused on May across the room, still crying into Garner’s chest. “Did I … I killed him.” 

Her face crumpled and she fell to her knees. Coulson knelt by her and enfolded her in his arms. She wept into his shoulder, both women mourning the loss of the man they’d loved and respected. He’d died to save both of them.

**~ TBC ~**


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All spoilers for season 1 and 2 possible, though my story goes AU through the finale so while some elements will remain the same, some will be completely different. I don't own them, someone much more rich and powerful does, but I'm enjoying spending more time with the characters and writing different adventures for them. Thanks for spending time with me and I hope you continue to enjoy this story!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

It was more like a funeral procession than a victory flight as the quinjets headed home.

Skye hadn’t wanted to ride with May so Bobbi and Hunter took her with them, handcuffed at her insistence, though they’d assured her they knew she wouldn’t try anything else now that the battle was done.

Coulson rode with May - of course - and Garner’s body. She refused to leave Garner’s side so a junior agent was asked to pilot the jet. It wasn’t as smooth a ride as it would have been with her at the helm, but she was beyond noticing and he was too worried about her and Skye to care.

He tried to think of other things to distract himself; goodness knew there was plenty yet unresolved and plenty of things within his own organization that needed dealing with. The fate of Jiaying and Raina, who would lead the Inhumans, what would the fate of the aircraft carrier be and who would command it now that Gonzales was gone. Those were just a few of the questions that would occupy their immediate future. Would May be okay after watching her ex-husband die for her, and if so, would she and Skye ever be able to regain the friendship and unwavering trust they’d built after everything that had happened over the past couple of days? Would Skye be okay emotionally, knowing she’d tried to kill May, and instead killed one of the few people Melinda May truly cared for?

More frightening yet, what had happened to Ward? He’d bargained for a return to Shield then disappeared without a trace during a delicate op, leaving behind the woman he apparently had developed feelings for. Too much was disturbing his calm right now and Coulson felt rather cheated that he couldn’t enjoy this victory, one earned at a thankfully low cost to his own forces, though even one body was too much in his view.

“May?” he ventured hesitantly.

She lifted her eyes and met his over Garner’s body. In them he saw a familiar darkness, blankness, that spoke of a great internal pain that she was in too much shock to process.

“He didn’t deserve to die,” she rasped, almost inaudibly

“No he didn’t. But _he_ made the decision to save you, May. You’re not responsible for what he did.”

“He shouldn’t have. I’m not worth saving.”

He wanted to say so many things to convince her otherwise but knew he’d be wasting his breath. She wasn’t ready to hear them yet. Instead, he got up and walked around the body to her side of the jet and put his arms around her. “I think you’re worth saving and I’m glad you’re still with us,” he whispered. “Andrew was a good man who didn’t deserve to die like this but he’s gone now and it’s time for us to mourn his loss. We’ll figure out how to move forward later.”

May looked into his eyes and for a moment he saw the depth of pain hidden there, then she buried her face in his chest and wept. He folded his arms around her more tightly and stroked her hair just like he had the only ever time she’d broken down in front of him.

Now, like then, he had no answers to give her peace; he could only offer comfort and support and hope that this time she pulled through.

~ ~ ~ 

“Bobbi - “ Hunter began.

“Do we have to do this now?” she snapped, interrupting him mid-sentence.

“Do what? You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

She glanced over at him. “Sorry. I’m a little on edge.”

“I’ll say.”

“Well aren’t you, given what just happened?”

“What, an alien race tried to start a war with us, and one of our own turned on us and killed a good man that I was just starting to like … just a regular day in the life of Shield.”

“Do you always have to be so snarky?”

“How long have you known me? Snarky is one of my more endearing qualities.”

One of the agents riding in the back with Skye snickered.

“Sadly, that’s true. I really ought to know better than to expect civilized conversation from you.” He didn’t respond and after a full two minutes of silence she couldn’t wait any longer. “What, no snarky response to that?”

“You don’t want to do this now, remember?”

“Get over yourself Hunter.”

He looked over at her, openly staring as he shook his head. “You really are something, you know that? This conversation isn’t over.”

Her lips pressed together tightly and she exhaled audibly through her nose. “It never is.”

~ ~ ~ 

“Seems like we missed all the action.” Simmons smiled weakly at Weaver.

“Consider yourself fortunate then.”

Fitz nodded his agreement. “We get cleanup duty, Gemma. You clean up the bodies, I get the tech that got wrecked in the fight.”

Weaver smiled now. “Thank goodness for you two. We need people like you to put things back together again.”

Mike Peterson walked into the room and Weaver’s lips pressed together in tacit disapproval. The gesture wasn’t lost on the two younger agents.

“The jets are half an hour out,” he said, nodding at Weaver.

“Thank you. Prepare for their return and please inform the director I’d like to speak with her as soon as possible regarding my ship and its status.”

“Will do.” Fitz nodded and cut the connection. 

“Will they ever accept me back?” Peterson asked sadly. “I understand their fears, believe me, better than anyone, but I’m my own man now. I’m not Hydra’s puppet anymore. I’m a Shield agent and I just want to be seen as one again.”

“I’m sure you will,” Simmons soothed. “It’ll take time though. It’s tough trusting someone when they’ve been working for the enemy.”

“It wasn’t like he had a choice,” Fitz grumbled. “Coulson did a good thing, getting you out and helping you return to your old self.”

“At least partially.” He looked down as his cybernetic arm sadly. “I’m happy to be in control of my own actions again and happy to be in Shield. I wish I could say I felt completely human and I wish I could be with my son and not have him see me as a monster, but at least I can choose which side I fight for now, and I feel like I’m doing something good.”

Fitz laid a hand on his good arm. “That’s a start. Maybe we can work on the rest in time.”

~ ~ ~ 

As Skye descended the ramp into the hangar, she could see Coulson and May doing the same not far away. He had his arm around her waist, not quite holding her up, but though Skye couldn’t see her face, she could see the brokenness in every line of May’s body. _I caused that,_ she thought, choking up again. _I broke the strongest woman I know. She’ll never forgive me for this._

The agents guarding her led her to them, obviously awaiting instructions. Coulson met her eyes; May’s gaze stayed on the floor. Coulson looked over at May, waiting to see if she’d respond but when she didn’t, he turned back to Skye. 

“Keep her confined to quarters for now.” He saw the hurt and acceptance warring in her eyes. “For now,” he repeated. “We’ll sort this out as soon as we can, Skye. A lot happened in the last few days and there are a lot of conversations that need to be had and details to be figured out. I promise we’ll talk soon, okay?”

She nodded wordlessly as they led her away. 

“Take the bodies down to the lab. Simmons will know what to do with them until we can notify next of kin and plan funerals.” He thought of the six they’d recovered, including Garner, and his heart hurt at losing them. There were no acceptable losses as far as he was concerned, no matter what Fury said. Even one life was too steep a price for winning a war.

“Come on, let’s get you to your quarters. You need rest.”

May shook her head. “Need to work. Things to do.”

“No. You can’t work like this.” He lifted her chin with his index finger so their eyes met. “Let me be your second for a change and I’ll deal with anything immediate. You need to sleep and let Simmons check those wounds. I’m not convinced those ribs aren’t fractured.”

She shook her head, barely feeling the pain in her chest.

“Do I need to make that an order, May?”

“I outrank you.” The words had none of the bite they should have had. It was just a token protest.

“Yeah, that never stopped you from bossing me around when I was the director. Let’s move.”

She allowed him to take her to her quarters and help her get into bed, taking off her shoes and pulling the covers up over her. He reached a hand out tentatively and touched her cheek. “You know I’m here if you need me. Just call.”

She nodded and he could see her eyes were already glazing over. She would sleep soon and hopefully be ready to face the tragedy when she woke. _I’m not sure either of us could handle it if she retreats back into herself the way she did after Bahrain. Please let her be stronger this time,_ he prayed, as he closed the door and headed to the office to deal with the storm he knew he’d have to face.

~ ~ ~ 

“Maybe we should have done it your way.”

Coulson regarded Weaver with a level gaze. “Maybe, but it likely wouldn’t have changed anything. Jiaying wanted a reason to go to war with Shield and we gave it to her. It didn’t matter which of us went - we’re all the enemy to her.”

“What are we going to do about them now?”

“The Inhumans? Mostly leave them alone, I hope. Gordon, the teleporter, is looking after them now and has moved them to a new location. At his request, we destroyed the tech that can track his movements.”

“You did _what?_ ”

“It was a show of good faith. He’s given me a way to contact him if we wish to speak with them, otherwise we leave them alone and they leave us alone.”

Weaver crossed her arms over her chest. “What gave you the right to decide that unilaterally? And where is Agent May? Did she give her approval for this?”

He stood his ground, eyes never wavering. “She’s indisposed at the moment and I’m acting as her AD, as Gonzales is no longer here to do so. I made the call alone and I’ll answer for it if she doesn’t approve. Now we have other matters to move on to.”

He sat, ten minutes later, after having ended the call, and exhaled long and slow. She’d agreed to command the carrier and to him appointing a new member to sit on the board in Gonzales’s place. That last one had required some finessing and a good bit of coercing, but he’d gotten the result he wanted. _Why are all of Gonzales’s people so combative?_ he wondered. _It’s so much different than working with my own._

There were still a lot of loose ends to deal with but one thing took priority right now. Skye.

~ ~ ~ 

Unlike May, Skye sat in her bunk, back against the wall, knees drawn up to her chest. He noticed her arms were clasped tightly around them and was relieved the handcuffs had been removed. He sat on the edge of the bed, down near the foot, and they stared at one another for long minutes.

“She’s never going to forgive me, is she?” Skye asked quietly.

“I wish I could say for a certainty that she will,” Coulson answered after a brief pause for thought, “but I really don’t know. She may seem very calm and unruffled on the surface most of the time but she feels things very deeply you know.”

“I know.”

A sad smile quivered on his lips. “She still loved him.”

“I’m beginning to see that.”

“I don’t think it was an ‘I wish we could get back together’ kind of love, but what May felt for Andrew was strong and deep and the kind of feeling that doesn’t just go away because you stop being together.”

Skye twined her hands together, plucking at the covers. “I wish I could do it over. Take it back. I never meant - “

“I know. When she gets past grieving for him she’ll realize you never meant to hurt him. However there’s a second layer that’ll come into play then: you were aiming at her.” He paused. “Were you trying to kill her?”

“No! No, of course not.” Skye’s face crumpled. “How could you even think that?”

“I don’t, but in my gut I can’t get past this awful feeling that if Andrew wouldn’t have jumped in the way, you would have killed May.” He knew she could see the pain in his eyes, pain he just couldn’t seem to hide away. “If you had, I’m not sure how I would have felt about that, if I could have forgiven you.”

She bit her lip. “You love her.”

“I do,” he affirmed without pause. “I’m not even entirely sure what my feelings for her are or whether I would ever want things to change between us, but I’ve known May and been friends with her for almost as many years as you’ve been alive, Skye. She’s a big part of my life, a big part of me.” His voice dropped to a shaky whisper. “One I’m not sure I could live without.” He swallowed hard. “There are a lot of hard things the three of us are going to have to face now, dealing with what happened, and how we manage those feelings and it isn’t going to be easy, for any of us.”

She dropped her head, gaze falling to the bed. “I know.”

“The other hard thing is dealing with what you did on a professional level. I understand why you chose to protect Jiaying and side with the Inhumans; I might be able to forgive you and so might May, but Weaver is never going to understand and will always see you as a traitor. I’m not sure she isn’t going to want you removed as a Shield agent and censured for your actions.”

**~ TBC ~**


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a really long time since I updated this. I got "what happened to May during her time away" syndrome and it took over my brain. There will be another fic in that series as I've started it already, but in the meanwhile I wanted to get back to this.
> 
> All spoilers apply - everything that's aired in seasons 1 and 2. No spoilers for the future, and the story is somewhat AU, somewhat following canon. But you already know that if you've read this far. Enjoy!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

May woke, feeling just as empty inside as she had when she’d fallen asleep.

_Andrew._

Tears pricked the backs of her eyes. She hadn’t realized just how deep her feelings for him still ran until she could no longer tell him. _Isn’t that always the way?_ She swiped at her eyes and forced herself out of bed. 

Going through the motions was easy; she’d done it for months after Bahrain. Years. At first she’d stayed in bed - no one begrudged her her time of depression, but eventually once people began expecting more of her, she’d learned how to make it look like she was okay.

She could do the same now. She had to, people were counting on her. She wasn’t hidden away in some dark annexe doing useless paperwork anymore. She was the one in charge. _Need to remedy that soon,_ she thought, showering quickly and dressing in her signature black. _How appropriate for mourning,_ she thought fleetingly, then banished the thought before the tears surfaced again.

Coulson met her en route to the office. “How are you doing?” he asked carefully. His arm twitched but remained at his side. She figured he wanted to reach out and touch her but was afraid to get too personal. That was okay with her; his touch would be her undoing. He was the one person she needed to stay away from if she wanted to keep it together. 

“I’m okay,” she said shortly.

“You don’t have to get back to work yet. You can take some more time if you need it.”

May shook her head. “There’s work that needs doing and I need to be doing it.”

The compassionate look in his eyes said he understood that need all too well. “Agent Weaver is anxiously waiting to talk to you.”

“About?”

“Everything.”

Her eyes slid sideways. “What did you do now?”

“Why do you assume I did something?”

“How long have I known you?”

“Touche.” He shrugged. “The to-talk-about list is fairly extensive. I’m not the only thing on it.”

“I don’t know whether to be relieved or nervous.” She shut the door behind them. “Well, let’s get it over with.”

Weaver’s face filled the screen moments after Coulson initiated contact. “Director May. I’m glad to see you suffered no lasting effects of the batte. I offer my condolences on the death of Dr. Garner.”

Her throat constricted. “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry to have to interrupt your time of mourning but there are pressing things we need to deal with.”

“I understand. Where do you want to start?”

They went through the entire operation piece by piece, as May had actually been there for all of it and had information Coulson hadn’t, since he’d only arrived a second before the final conflict.

“Agent Coulson has destroyed the tech we used to track the teleporter.”

May turned to him. “Is this true?”

He nodded, holding her gaze. “It was my decision, yes.”

She turned back to face Weaver. “I believe that action is for the best.”

“What? How can you support this?”

“I wish we didn’t have to deal with the Inhumans ever again. If it were only up to me I’d say let’s let them disappear and forget they exist at all, but Skye is one of them and so somehow we’re going to have to figure out how to co-exist peacefully with them. If they feel we have the upper hand and can spy on them, so to speak, they’ll be defensive and we won’t be able to cultivate a trusting relationship with them.”

“Do you think we can, after what Agent Skye did?”

May counted to ten in English and Mandarin, and swallowed hard before answering. “I trust Skye,” she said quietly, “and if anyone should have a problem with that, it’s me.”

Weaver’s lips drew into a thin line of disapproval. “I see.”

After discussing several other topics brought up by Weaver herself, May cleared her throat. “There’s one last thing we need to clear up and that’s the chain of command. I’d like to return the directorship to Agent Coulson.”

They both stared at her in shock. “May - “ Coulson began, but she held up a hand to stop him.

“I believe he’s best suited to lead Shield, and my tenure was only meant to be a temporary fix while we worked out some kinks.”

“Are you sure?” Weaver asked, clearly not at all comfortable with the idea.

“If the new director agrees - “ she glanced at Coulson and caught his eye, “ - I’d like you to take over as the new assistant director.”

If she’d been looking to floor them both she couldn’t have picked a better statement.

Weaver recovered her voice first. “Are you sure this is what you want? This puts you out of that position.”

May nodded. “Yes. I know you have reservations about Agent Coulson’s leadership and I believe it would alleviate those concerns for you to work more closely with him, plus it wouldn’t hurt to bring our two groups closer together. We need to be united if we want to prevail.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” Coulson put in. “I believe we all want the same thing and can work together towards our common goals.”

Weaver nodded. “I believe we can. Agent May … I’m in your debt.”

Coulson cleared his throat. “To begin to repay it, I suggest we reinstate Agent May as a voting member of the board.”

“Agreed.”

“Along with the two of you, Agent May, and Agent Morse, that makes four. I’d like Agent Fitz to be the fifth, taking Robert Gonzales’s place.”

Once all was agreed to and made official, Weaver signed off and disappeared, leaving them in the office alone. 

“Fitz is a good choice,” May offered, voice quiet.

“I’m glad you agree. However I have to say I’m surprised and not a little dismayed that you’re stepping down as my second. Was that a purely tactical decision?”

She met his eyes. “Not entirely.” The hurt in his tore at her already bleeding heart. “It’s not you, Phil. I haven’t lost faith in you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive. It’s us. We’re too close. It’s too difficult for us to separate work and personal and I fear it’s not good for the organization to have two people as close as we’ve become leading it. It’s hard to be objective and honest when you know you’ll be hurting the feelings of someone you care for on a personal level.” She bit her lip. “The only reason I took on the position in the first place was because I was the only one with a high enough rank, or so we believed a year ago. Now that we know better, it’s important we do things the right way and include everyone, not just keep it in the family. That smacks of favouritism and it isn’t good for inspiring the trust and loyalty of those serving under you.”

“Of which I’m hoping you’ll still be one,” he said in a very quiet voice, a serious look on his face.

“You think I’m planning on leaving Shield?”

“The thought has crossed my mind.”

She shook her head. “I do need to take some time now but I’ll be back.”

“Time away?”

“Yes.” She bit her lip. “I need to be away from here for a while.”

He took one step closer and she stiffened. Reading her body language, he stopped. “How long will you need?”

May shook her head helplessly. “I don’t know.”

“Are you leaving now?” He swallowed hard.

“Can I?”

Coulson nodded. “Take whatever time you need, Melinda, but please come back home.”

The words, so similar to the ones Andrew had always had for her, broke the shaky dam that was holding back her tears and they began to stream down her face. She fled the room at a half-run, not allowing him to catch her.

~ ~ ~ 

“You didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” Simmons smiled encouragingly or what she hoped looked encouraging as that emotion was far from what she was actually feeling.

Skye didn’t look convinced. “I didn’t hurt someone. I killed him. Dead. And dead not like Coulson-dead. Dead like in-the-ground dead. Never coming back dead.” She folded her knees up to her chest and hugged them close. “And it wasn’t just anyone. It was May’s husband.”

“Ex,” Simmons corrected.

“Whatever. She loved him and I killed him and they’re never going to forgive me.” Her head dropped. “ _I’m_ never going to forgive me.”

“You can’t think that way. Coulson and May will forgive you. They know you were torn between our two sides and didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”

“They might put it past them and move forward but that doesn’t mean they’ll forgive and forget,” Skye argued. “It’ll always be there between us now. And Gonzales’s people? They had it out for me before I killed Dr. Garner and proved that Inhumans can’t be trusted. They’re going to want my head now.”

“Oh dear. It’s all gotten so complicated.”

Skye grimaced. “Yeah, and we thought it was bad before when all we had to contend with was Hydra and Ward.”

“So uh … how are things going with your ability? Are you getting a better handle on it?” Simmons tried to change the subject but couldn’t think of anything else to talk about.

“Sure. It’s no problem, except when I let loose and kill people with it.”

“Oh dear,” the scientist repeated. “Well, how about we play a game of cards?” She pulled a deck out of her pocket. “I thought you could use a distraction.”

~ ~ ~ 

“I have to be the one to do it.”

Maria Hill frowned. “Why? Any of us could break the news to them. It doesn’t have to be you. It wasn’t like he worked for you.”

“He was my friend,” Coulson said simply. “A man I respected, trusted and liked. And he was May’s husband at one time.”

“And you think that makes you responsible for him somehow?”

“It does. We’re kind of a unit, the three of us, and since she’s not here to deliver the news - if she even could bring herself to - she would want me to do it, not a stranger to the family.”

“You had a very twisted threesome, if you ask me.”

Coulson’s one eyebrow rose, as did the colour in his cheeks. “I love how refreshingly candid you always are. We were never a ‘threesome’ in the accepted definition of the word.”

Maria crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe not, but the three of you have always been linked in a weirdly twisted relationship.”

“More candid thoughts.”

She shrugged. “Be honest with yourself, Phil. You’ve always had a thing for Melinda and now you’re feeling guilty because she’s always had feelings for both of you. Now he’s gone and she’s all yours but you feel the need to punish yourself since a part of you is happy your competition is out of the way.”

His face darkened as she spoke. “That’s a horrible thing to say. I hate to admit it’s true, but it probably is.” He sighed. “I need to do this Maria, even if you can’t understand or think it’s unnecessary. Please respect that.”

“Of course I’ll look after things while you’re gone. I just want you to be honest with yourself about why you aren’t handing this off to me and my minions.”

“Minions. I like that.” HIs lip curled up. “Thank you for always being the voice of my conscience. Someone needs to keep me honest.”

“I’ll let Melinda take over that job when she comes back. When is she coming back, by the way?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. When she’s ready.”

Maria stood, signalling the conversation was at a close. “Well it had better not be seven years this time.”

“Five technically, as she’s been out in the field with me for two now.”

She waved a hand. “Minor detail. Go, deliver your news and come back soon. I’ve got other things to do besides babysitting your people.”

He smiled as her, knowing her gruffness masked a kind soul. “Thank you.”

~ TBC ~


	19. Chapter 19

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“It’s awfully quiet around here without Coulson and May.”

“It’s awfully quiet when they are here too.”

Simmons’ face soured at Fitz’s rebuttal. “I suppose. For two people who are supposed to be the best of friends, they really don’t talk to each other much, do they?”

He looked up. “Perhaps they don’t need words to communicate.” His voice softened and grew wistful. “Once upon a time we were like that.”

“I know.” Her eyes grew sad. “So many things have changed. I don’t know where it all went wrong.”

“I do.”

She looked at him quizzically.

“We stopped trusting one another. Believing in one another. We were a team once but we became a bunch of individuals content to be led by fear and believe the worst about each other.”

Simmons let out a long, deep sigh. “You’re probably right.”

“Of course I’m right.” His tone grew matter-of-fact. “I’m always right.”

She smiled. “Modest too.”

He gave a lopsided grin. “There’s no end to my b … better qualities.”

“Fitz, I … I’m sorry.” Her eyes grew misty. “I’m sorry I haven’t been a good friend these last six months. I … “ She wrung her hands. “When you almost died I just couldn’t handle it. The thought of losing you - “

“You’ll never lose me, Gemma. Friends forever.”

“Friends and maybe something more?” she ventured hesitantly.

“Oh?”

“When you told me how you felt about me down at the bottom of the ocean, I … “

“You weren’t ready to hear it,” he interrupted. “I’m sorry I caught you by surprise but I thought it was the end and I didn’t want to die without ever telling you.”

She took a step towards him. “Do you still feel that way?”

“Feelings don’t just disappear.”

“I do care for you,” she said slowly. “And I want us to … but maybe slowly. Not rushing anything.”

“No, of course not,” he agreed. “Maybe we should start with dinner? Somewhere off the base. Somewhere nice. Just the two of us.”

Simmons beamed. “I’d like that.”

~ ~ ~ 

The void closed in over her and she let it. If there was one thing she’d begun to learn from Bahrain, albeit years later, it was that before she could let the light back in, she had to purge the darkness. The darkness killing Katya had brought to her soul had never really left. She’d never been willing to let it go completely. It had been her secret torment and in some twisted way, she’d embraced it. Let it become a part of her.

Now it was out. Public knowledge. The darkness people had seen but not truly understood in her had a face. A name. A reason.

Add Andrew to that. He might not have died at her hand, but he’d died for her. _Because_ of her. She knew if she let it, it would swallow her whole and she might never resurface … as she nearly hadn’t from Bahrain.

She couldn’t let that happen. The team needed her. Shield needed her. Coulson needed her. It was time to let the darkness have its sway so she could experience it, name it, and then let it go.

The dusk closed in around her as she sat crossed-legged amidst the pines, weeping for lives that should have been saved but couldn’t. 

~ ~ ~ 

Coulson stood at the door to andrew Garner’s mother’s house. He knew he should ring the doorbell and get this over with but he just couldn’t seem to bring himself to. This was the part of his job that he hated; delivering the worst news possible and ruining people’s lives.

Finding Mabel Garner hadn’t been hard. Andrew had listed her as next-of-kin in his file when he’d worked for Shield, and while May had been added to that list when they’d married, she hadn’t been removed.

Hard as breaking the news to Andrew’s mother was going to be, it was the easy part. He’d taken the framed photo on Garner’s desk and had to ask this poor woman if she could identify the woman with her now late son. Coulson had done a cursory search of Garner’s office but there had been no mention of her anywhere. Given their smiles and positions in the picture, he suspected the woman was a lover, or at least someone close to him. If he did manage to get a name, he’d then have to go to her and break the news.

Not fun.

He lifted his hand and knocked briskly three times. An elderly woman with greying locks and a limp in her step answered after a fairly long pause. “May I help you?”

“My name is Phil Coulson and I work for Shield.”

A hardness came over the woman’s face. “I guess I’d better invite you in then - one should never deliver bad news standing on the front steps.”

“Ma’am?”

“My husband was a police office, rest his long departed soul. I know you folks only show up on people’s doorsteps unannounced when there’s bad news.” She closed the door behind him and led him into the front room. “It’s my Drew, isn’t it?” She covered her heart with her hand.

“I’m afraid so.” A spasm of pain crossed her face. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Garner. Your son was a good man, one I was proud to call a friend.”

“He was.” She lifted her face proudly. “You couldn’t find a better man if you scoured the entire earth.”

“Truer words were never spoken.”

She swallowed hard, visibly fighting tears. “How did it happen?”

He told her the story, omitting the classified details. It was short and ended with, “He died saving Agent May’s life.”

Tears rolled down her wrinkled cheeks. “He was always a good boy, thinking of others and putting others before himself.” She sniffed and wiped at the tears. “He loved Melinda. He never stopped loving her even when she left him and broke his heart.”

“Leaving him broke her too. It was a tragic situation for both of them.”

The tears continued to course down her cheeks. “He never told me much about why it happened but I know he never blamed her for leaving. He loved her, forgave her, and I know he’d consider his life a worthy trade for hers. But I’m going to miss my boy.”

She broke down and sobbed, covering her face with her hands. Coulson leaned forward and put his arms around her. “I’m so sorry,” he murmured, taking comfort as well as giving it.

Eventually the sobs subsided and she pulled a large cotton hankie out of her apron pocket and dabbed at her eyes, finishing with a loud blow of her nose.

“I hate to have to bother you further after such devastating news, but - “ he paused, pulling the photo out of his jacket pocket, “ - do you know this woman with Andrew?”

“Oh that’s Juliet. She’ll be devastated.”

“Juliet?”

“Juliet van Rysselt. She and Drew have been together over a year.”

“Not married?”

She shook her head and the grey afro bounced. “I don’t think he was ever going to marry again after Melinda. It took him a long time to start dating again after the divorce, and I don’t think he ever stopped wishing she’d come back to him.”

Coulson sighed. “I know that story well. May hasn’t moved on yet either.”

“Poor girl. Here, let me get you Juliet’s address.”

He stood back out on the porch a few moments later, minus the picture she’d asked to keep, and with an address scribbled on a small piece of paper in his hand.

“Be gentle,” Mabel admonished. “It’s going to hit her hard.”

He nodded. “I will.”

~ ~ ~ 

Hunter meandered into the living area of the base slowly, looking to see if anyone else was around. Anyone other than Bobbi - he’d already spied her blonde curls and figured now was as good a time as any to talk to her, provided they were alone. Conversation inevitably became confrontation with them and usually ended up physical as well, and he had no desire to have his colleagues witness that.

“So … “ he began, leaning nonchalantly against a post, hands in his pockets. “Is now a good time?”

Bobbi’s head snapped up. “For what?”

“To finish that conversation we started on the jet the other day.”

“How can I know if it’s a good time when I don’t even know what it’s about?”

“Perhaps if you’d let the conversation actually happen you’d find out,” he countered.

Bobbi raised her eyebrows but said nothing.

“So?”

“You want to talk, so talk.”

He moved over to sit down beside her on the couch. “Listen Bobb, with everything that’s gone on around here since I joined Shield, and particularly the most recent events, I thought maybe we should clear the air between us. You know, in case one of us - “

“Buys the farm?”

He shrugged. “It’s not exactly out of the realm of possibility with this job.”

“I’m well aware of that,” she said acerbically, eyes icy blue. “ _You’re_ the one who never wanted to talk about it before, remember? You always told me I’d be fine. I wanted to talk about the dangers that came with the job but you were too afraid to acknowledge them, let alone face them with me.”

“Well maybe I’ve had a taste of this life for myself now and I’m realizing I was wrong.”

Her eyes opened wider. “You were wrong? Did I hear that correctly? You actually admitted you were wrong?”

“Yes I was wrong,” he said impatiently, with a roll of his eyes. “Don’t make a big thing of it. You’ve been wrong plenty of times too.”

“At least I was always willing to be honest about it.”

His voice raised. “Well I am now, okay? Isn’t later better than never? There are a lot of things I wish I could take back, things I said and did that I wish I could change, but the biggest one was letting you go. I know we had our fights, Bobb, but I always loved you. I never wanted you to leave.”

She stared at him, apparently speechless, for a long moment, then leaned in and quickly kissed him. Within seconds their arms were around one another and they were pressed back against the couch, bodies twined as one.

“I hate to interrupt this moment,” a voice said nearby.

They broke apart and turned to face Coulson, standing over them.

“Sir?” Bobbi wiped her mouth on her sleeve, expecting reproach.

“We’ll talk about this later. For now I need you both. I’ve got new intel and I need eyes in the sky. As May’s not here, you’re my best pilot.”

She sat up straighter. “What do you need me to do?”

“Apparently reports of Hydra’s death were greatly exaggerated.”

“Hydra … “ She broke off. “How? I thought we took care of them.”

“You know their saying.”

“They’ve got a new head,” Hunter ventured.

“Grant Ward, according to my source.”

She looked sideways at Hunter, then swung her eyes back to Coulson. “Oh shit.”

~ TBC ~


End file.
